OSM Video, If You Missed It....And You Probably Did

Because, unless you're a UNC fan, you went to bed instead of watching the rest of that domination. What a boring game. Not boring if you're a Heels fan, though. Anyway, below is the One Shining Moment video for this season. Worth noting as well is that at the end it's dedicated to the memory of Doug Towey. Towey was the man responsible for bringing the One Shining Moment to life. Hokey as it may be, it's tradition now. Midwest Sports Fans does a better job telling you more about Towey.

Thanks, Doug!



Special congrats to Nemmy, who makes the video twice -- once hugging Hummel, and once getting swatted by Thabeet.

The Silver Lining

While watching the game last night, my brother said, "If I was Painter, after the game, I'd say to Calhoun, 'nice game...good luck with the NCAA investigation.'" And while it's a pretty pointed thing to say, and some coaches would say it, Matty wouldn't and didn't. But, Mr. Classy, coach Calhoun, made sure to curse at one of the officials and point at him as he walked toward Painter. And there it is, whether it's cheating or simply being a major bag, we don't have to deal with that garbage...and the future is glaringly bright too.

One day, Matty will figure out the middle-ground between Calhoun's antics and where he is today. A place where he will let the officials know when they're doing a bad job, possibly garnering a tech, but pushing them to change the way they're calling the game. Last night, it seemed three seconds wasn't a violation for the Huskies...not one, but two UConn players would set up tents in the paint for 5-7 seconds each possession, all without one single whistle the entire game.

All that said, it didn't make a damned difference. The better, stronger, quicker team won last night and Purdue deserved to lose...but I don't see these guys winning the national title. I don't even think they'll get past Mizzou...but that's just one man's guess.

And speaking of Mizzou, they beat one of my least-favorite teams, the Memphis Tigers. And it wasn't that they beat them, they whipped them and made multiple Memphis players cry as they fouled out. That's funny to me- not that they cry, because I love the emotion of the NCAA tourney, but that this team filled with tough guys, thugs and malcontents act like toddlers who get their candy taken away when they lose to a better team. And the whipped cream atop this sundae was the "Teflon Don" Calipari himself on the edge of tears in the presser. Delicious.

But that wasn't all that was enjoyable for me last night. I vowed to root for teams not in the Big East last night...but after Purdue's loss, I was sobered, and my emotion took over. I couldn't possible root for Duke or Xavier...what the hell was I thinking.

Paulus give Singler a backrub, as other Dookies wonder what might have been

Turns out Xavier fought valiently and lost...but Duke never really had a shot in the second half. And I don't know which one was more enjoyable from my perspective, but both were a ton of fun. Singler and K are the dynamic duo of college basketball b*tches...throw in Paulus and you've got a formidble trio of whining babies. And once again, the Blue Devils fell short of playing to their seed...and in doing so, didn't make the round of eight. Couldn't happen to a better bunch. If you had them in your round of four, you have no one to blame but yourself. Afterall, "Duke is Duke." And right now, there 12 players and a fainting coach crying their eyes out in North Carolina.

The positives on the Purdue side for last night are pretty obvious, but I'll still go over them.
First, JJ learned that he's got a bit of work to do before he can be considered one of the best big men in the nation...and is there a better way to learn? Thabeet is a gigantic man...not the most skilled offensive player, but he's strong, gets himself in good position on offense and his defensive range, due to his long arms and timing is astounding. At times, JaJuan looked alright, but most of the game, he was being taken to school. I'm almost positive that we'll be fortunate-enough to have #25 back next season, and I can't wait. Hopefully, this last game motivates him to work just as hard this off-season as he did last one.

The Ostrich was good for about a 15-minute stretch, offensively, but he was taken out of his game by great UConn defense and his lack of jumping ability in the second half. Let's all remind ourselves that this guy was playing at close to half-speed for much of this season. Now, he can take the full 12 weeks off to completely heal that cracked L5...although in the press conference he said, "Next season starts tomorrow."

While I love this attitude, I hope he gives this thing time to heal.

And lastly, Smooge disappeared yet again during the UConn game. And while he definitely was not the only Boiler to vanish in the thin, dry Arizona air, last night, he was one of the most noteworthy disappearances. From what I understand, while Smooge is a cool-acting player, he's a hard-worker...this season should serve as motivation.

So should this fact- in spite of playing an awful game, offensively, Purdue was within three points of UConn in the last 10 minutes of the game. There's much to look forward to in West Lafayette...and Purdue should thank UConn this time next year for pointing out exactly what needs to be improved upon.

So you're saying there's a chance

In the eyes of the media, the unstoppable juggernaut that is UConn basketball cannot be stopped by the lowly hand maiden Purdue Boilermakers. Well, that's not what the computers say. Sure, they're still underdogs, but with the average score after 10,000 simulations being 72 - 67 with UConn winning, it's not exactly the defenseless going against the jack booted oppressors here.









In 14% of the cases Purdue actually won the game by more than 10 points. That's not bad. I've been keeping an eye on how well these simulations work, and at least in Purdue's case they've been darn close to reality. Let's just hope tonight the reality is in the 37.1%.

Is UConn a good team? Definitely. So is Purdue though. ESPN has Purdue being the worst team in the Sweet 16 while they have UConn being the second best. No one is giving Purdue a chance here. That should definitely inspire them. They seem to perform best when they're counted out. With all the distractions around UConn at this time, as well as their surely inflated heads, something unexpected can happen tonight.

Game on.

BTFU!

Since they're already not focusing on Purdue...This isn't a big deal

"Shut up...get some facts and come back and see me."

UConn's basketball Coach, Jim Calhoun might have to answer a few more questions that aren't related to the Purdue game in the next two days.

It seems UConn might be under NCAA investigation in the very near future...Granted, they'll probably get the dreaded probation or nothing at all since I'm sure they've self-punished enough (wait, wrong school)...but it is a distraction none-the-less.

But, we already know it's a foregone conclusion that the squeaky-clean Calhoun and the choir boy, Calipari will meet in the round of eight...so much ado about nothing, I guess.

Spring Practice Begins Today, other notes

Spring practice begins today, and Hope's Herculean effort to rebuild depth on Purdue's football team commences. With stability only in the defensive backfield and on the offensive line, there are so many personnel issues that are up in the air.

Who's playing quarterback?
Siller, Elliot, Ter Bush & Henry might all make some noise in the contest...and we won't know anything about Henry until August...will Tyler be in the mix?

What will the depth chart at RB look like?
Jaycen Taylor will see significant playing time...but after the Senior back, Fullback, Frank Halliburton and Scatback, Dan Dierking have both seen significant PT at one time or another in the past few seasons...but Ralph Bolden might be the best returning back of them all. Especially since, his surgically-repaired knee will have had over a year to heal. But, most Purdue fans are excited to see ATM take the field this spring. McBurse is the highest-touted RB Purdue has had in a long time, and many fans, and the coaches are giddy with his potential. Regardless, this competition might be the most interesting this spring.

How will Purdue field a WR corps?
You read that question correctly, the question right now is not about depth at this position, it's about warm bodies. Two former DBs now bolster this beleaguered unit (Adams and Thomas), and only Valentin and Smith saw any substantial playing time in '08. The guys that we should learn a lot about this spring are Gravesande (who saw a bit of mop-up duty last season) and Carlos, the JuCo transfer. In the fall, Reese and Williams seem to be the two that should make the most noise and might end up starting.

Who'll be the man at TE
We'll probably see a lot of single-tight end sets under Hope, so depth isn't much of a concern at this position since Adams, Lindsey and McKey have all seen a lot of snaps at this position. But, Panfil might be in the mix too, if he's been able to put on any weight...and I'm absolutely certain that the highl-touted Holmes will be a candidate for the start. The problem is that while there are a lot of talented bodies at this position, both Adams and McKey have had a lot of time lost due to injury and that leaves little game experience if one of them were to go down once again. The real question might be- Is Lindsey going to fulfill his potential after clearly being in Tiller's dog house the past few seasons?

What will happen on the DLine?
Purdue lost two lunch pail guys with the graduation of Baker and Magee, but the defensive line might have the biggest upside of all of the units on the team for '09. Neal and Mondek will anchor the defensive tackles, but I'm very excited to see if Short can become the player that many recruiting publications thought he'd be. He's got great size (6'4" 318#) and great feet as he was a very good basketball player in high school. Incoming Frosh, McDaniel might start as well as he seems to have the size and talent to do so right away. At DE, Purdue has some solid returning talent...and Brown, Gooden and Kerrigan have shown flashes of greatness at one time or another.

Questions at LB, once again
With Golden moving back to LB and Beckford and Higgs both vying for PT, there's going to be some good size and speed at the position, but, Carlino and Holland are the only two players that had a significant role in this unit in '08...and honestly, they probably played a bit too much since the LBs were thin last season. And of course, the yearly question about Jason Werner's back is once again on the table. I feel for the kid and would love to see what he's capable of if he was healthy for an entire season, but I'm not counting on it, at this point.

Purdue University- Talent Mill
This article came out a few weeks ago, but is still noteworthy. You'd expect Miami, USC, aOSU and others to make the top-10 of schools who produce NFL talent, but our Boilers made the board as well. You'll notice there aren't a ton of first-round picks, especially when compared to the others in the top-10, but there are plenty of guys earning a heck of a living in the league who used to wear the vegas gold and black...much like they were out of high school, lots of Tiller players seemed to slip in under the radar and made an impact once at the next level.

UConn, Memphis moving onto the round of eight
I can't tell you how many times I've read that the Memphis v. UConn matchup in the round of eight is all but a done deal. But two similar schools might have something to say about that.

I've always been a closet fan of Mizzou as they seem a lot like Purdue, from the outside. They're the liberal KU's antithesis, Purdue's the liberal IU's antithesis. Neither Purdue or Mizzou ever seem to get a ton of pub in the national media...people generally seem to know more about the football teams' super stars than the team itself...and in basketball, both schools were defined by iconic coaches who never could quite get over the hump in the post-season. And of course, both squads wear gold and black.

Chin up lil' Tiger, you made it to the Sweet 16!

Atop that, neither has been given any chance to play eachother in the round of eight in this year's NCAA tourney. From the Best Damn Sports Show talking to Calipari about his potential matchup with Calhoun next round to WFAN's Francesa asking Jim to size up the number two seed Memphis squad, this is the deal...Purdue doesn't have a shot, I guess.

Hey guys, you won the BTT! Not too bad!

Perhaps our Boilers and Mizzou should just share a charter jet back home and we can just drop them off on the way back from Arizona. They could leave today and save the Athletic Departments some dough...Sounds like a plan.

Peering Into The Windows of UConn

So while doing my usual porn-surfing this afternoon, I decided to look into what UConn blogs are out there and to see if they're giving us any ammunition -- that is, mocking Purdue or taking them ultra-lightly. I didn't necessarily find that yet, but what I did find was, well... take a look.

At UConn Huskies Basketball, they've located a YouTube clip of a Purdue...student, I think. She's surely hot, but I don't think she represents Purdue quite the way we might like to be represented.



"This is Purdue's bell toweerrrrrrrr.... it's kind of like the center of Purdue's campus..."

*wince*

"The rule is you're not supposed to walk underneath it, or you'll fail your next three tests... or something like that...."

*holds head*

At least she sort of knows part of the fight song. And is hot.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Over at The UConn Blog (imaginative name, by the way -- do you think this guy's kid is named "Son"?) they have a Q&A with Travis from Hammer and Rails (whoever that is).

If you read us at all, you know we are allies with Travis, but I have to give him some ribbing for this exchange... when asked what Purdue's weaknesses were, Travis went with:

Rebounding, Free throw shooting, and general shooting have all been bugaboos at times.

Holy crap! What else is there? If ever you wanted to encapsulate the mind of a Purdue fan, there you go. We may be in the Sweet 16, but we're weak everywhere. (You know we love you, Travis.)

The Pressure's on the Big East

The Big East had a good weekend in the NCAA tournament- Only one invitee (West Virginia, playing in Minneapolis) from the mega conference was knocked out of the tournament. And while I don't think anybody can debate that the conference is good, is it fair to crown 'em before the dance is half-over?

It's been well-documented that the Big East, with all of its talented teams has some serious problems that might help contribute to a perception of strength. Multiple teams in the top part of the conference only had to play the other top-third teams once...and atop that, as strong as the top of the conference was, there were some lousy teams which played like little-more than bye games for much of the conference schedule.

Winning 25-plus games in a major conference is a difficult task, don't get me wrong, but it's no reason to coronate a team as an automatic Final Four entry. I too found it difficult to predict anything short of a Big East dominated Final Four, and perhaps I've been mildly brain-washed, but there's still a lot of basketball to be played...and much to be decided.

To further reference Dennis Green, it's not the time to let these teams off of the hook.

The homecourt advantage enjoyed by so many of the top teams in the nation is gone as many move to truly neutral sites. Connecticut enjoyed playing just a four hour drive away from home in Philly, 'Nova played at the same site, just 23 minutes away from campus. Pitt played four hours from their home court in the first two rounds, Louisville played two and one half hours away. Syracuse, Marquette and West Virginia were the only three Big East teams that were a flight, instead of a drive away from home and while the Orange(men) battled through a tough 'Zona State team, Mizzou ended Marquette's season in Boise and WVU couldn't outlast an A10 opponent on a neutral site in round one.

So, the soap-boxing by the CBS and EsPN pundits will not cease as long as there's reason for them to do so...But teams like Purdue, Xavier and Oklahoma can possibly help diminish the talk to a low-roar by beating their respective Big East opponent. The pressure is now on the members of the greatest basketball conference ever to see if they will live up to their billing and make this year's tournament into nothing more than the Big East Invitational.

As for the other 11 teams still dancin', I guess it's just the Big East's world and you're all just renting space, until it's proven otherwise.

Sunday Poll

-Steve Curry made a good NCAA tourney run last season that nearly propelled him into the lottery of the NBA draft (let's be honest, he probably should have left after last season).

-Carmello Anthony left Syracuse after just one National Title season for the Orange(men).

A great NCAA tournament run can make a solid player into an overnight high NBA prospect. So, let's say one of Purdue's talented Sophomores gets on a hot streak. What would the team have to achieve for you to be A-OK with his hypothetical departure?

Good Morning, Boilers.

Some of the best coaching minds handle the NCAA tournament like three separate tournaments in order to keep their team focused...If that's the case, Purdue has just won its second-straight tournament and extended its winning-streak to 5.

It's a whole new day, once again next week as Purdue will face a team that was #1 for a large portion of this season...the UConn Huskies.

J and I, all season, have said anything less than a Sweet 16 appearance would be a disappointment...so in my mind, we're heading to bonus basketball in the coming week. AND, Matty has taken the step he wanted his team to take by hanging around for the second week of the tournament and "making some noise". I think he believes "making noise" is playing above your seed...and doing so, near your opponent's home is even louder.

Purdue showed the Northwest what we've become accustomed to- a team with a strong will who plays tough defense and is generally smart. The early lead didn't surprise Purdue fans, nearly losing the lead and going cold didn't surprise us either, but I bet I'm not the only one who was a touch surprised that in spite of the foul trouble and hostile crowd, Purdue was able to dig deep and survive in Portland. Perhaps just as I'm learning to believe again, maybe this team is too.

With each close victory in the post season, this group of guys is learning about how to battle and what it takes to win the close one. It takes ignoring your loud heart beat and hitting free throws down the stretch (Kramer, Smooge)...It takes being gritty when it looks like the odds are against you (UW's possession deep under the basket in which Hummel came up with a miracle rebound falling out of bounds)...and it takes one player not allowing his team to lose. This evening it was JJ. His line was very good, but the final 2.5 minutes were a masterpiece, defensively. I'm not sure how many shots he was given credit for blocking in that period, but he altered at least five in the Huskies' last three possessions.

But, it was a team effort that got this done. KG quietly scraped a double-double together...Kramer sacraficed his body time and time again while actually looking to take a shot every now and again...Marcus Green's day was cut a bit short when he clearly made fun of an officials Mama, but he was playing hard while in the game...Nemmy hit another three in very limited minutes...Smooge hit key free throws, had 14 points and 6 assists in a solid game (in spite of going very quiet for the majority of the second half)...LewJack frustrated all of us by missing a few lay-ups, but he made a few circus shots in the process and his quickness kept one of the quickest guards in the nation on his heels during stretches of the game; plus he went 5-6 from the charity stripe...and the Ostrich had 7 points on very few shots and 8 rebounds, a couple in near-impossible situations.

And speaking of Robbie, methinks his back is hurting him again...but he continues to play a ton of minutes (38) and draw respect from the opponent defensively that opens up the lane. Hopefully a full 4 day (or so) rest will allow him to gain the hop in his step once again. Regardless, he'll be playing, it seems.

Our Boilers are a solid free throw shooting team, but they were clutch today shooting over 82% from 15 ft. They had as many rebounds as the Huskies (34) who were supposed to dominate the lightweight Boilers on the glass. They took relatively-good care of the basketball, only turning it over 11 times. And the signature Boiler defense was the difference as Purdue stole the ball 5 times and blocked 7 shots. Purdue did the little things this evening and earned a big win because of it.

But let's all be honest- there's more in the tank for this team. They can play better...and I believe we haven't seen their best game of '09. Regardless if I'm right or not, it will take that type of effort to beat the opponent(s) that lie ahead in the coming round(s).

Washington vs Purdue @ Rivals Video

Other Action
Have I ever told you guys that I hate Duke and Gonzaga? Well, Gonzaga just earned their way into the round of 16 in a tight game, and Duke looks like it's about to...but even that can't ruin my evening.

In a truly perfect world, our Boilers would have a chance to avenge the early-season embarrassment at Mackey in 15 days-or-so...but as for tonight, the victory over Washington feels pretty damned good.

Survive and Advance.

Still dancin' yo.

Suck on all of it, Digger.

Big East Domination Continues

As I write this, #1 Pitt is slaughtering Eastern Tennessee State (by 5 points) and West Virginia is losing to an A10 team by 5. Best basketball conference ever.

Digger?

Shock the world!! (a look ahead)

That's one of my favorite sports phrases, and it's over-used as hell, but it's a whale of a motivational tool that smart coaches use time and time again. You know- "no one gave us a chance..." "we showed everyone we belonged here..." "we shocked the world tonight and did what no one outside of our locker room thought could be done."

Let's hope Matty's chirping that in our favorite team's ears every chance he gets. At breakfast this morning, perhaps he gave the players this article to let them know what they're up against. Or maybe he reminded them of the fact that the NCAA tourney committee put his Boilers out in the Northwest versus a team from three hours away because they didn't think Purdue was that good either. Whatever tactic he's using, it's not just empty words, there will be reminders everywhere our Boilers will go today. From fans in purple reminding Purdue that it's a road game, to EsPN chiding that the BT is weak and Purdue can't compete because of where they come from, to Purdue being the underdog, it doesn't matter, this is a good position to be in.

Matty and his boys have nothing to lose and everything to gain...just like in the Big Ten tourney, Purdue is not the story this week...they're not sexy, they have no super-star and they're no where near as good as most of the teams that will be left at the end of today...right?

I guess that's why you play the game...So hopefully, our Boilers are good and pissed off by the time they enter the Rose Garden tomorrow afternoon. If so, they'll take another step toward making this season a great success.

Thursday Notes

tool

Yesterday was a moderately-exciting day for the NCAA tournament. There were a few moderate upsets, but really, nothing too noteworthy. Yet another 12 beat a 5, and the Illini were the victim of the fury of the Hilltoppers. UConn and UNC played in a manner that no one would question their #1 seeding (UConn even kept shooting threes while up by 50 to compound the point). But, one might doubt the same for the #2 seed Memphis Tigers who struggled mightily with a powerhouse, 17-win CS Northridge squad.

Following our Boilers tight win over a 25-win Northern Iowa team, resident idiot, Digger Phelps proclaimed that that close game completely discredited the BT as a viable conference...and he continued his sentiment that the BT was the worst basketball conference in the last ten years. Hmmm. He told us how there was no way Purdue could control the pace v. Washington because of the weakness of both the Boilers and the BT. But, he refrained from calling Memphis a pretender...nor did he discredit UCLA or the Pac-10, later in the night, when they barely squeaked by VCU by the smallest of margins. Furthermore, he didn't give the beleaguered BT an credit after UM's victory over the higher-seeded Clemson Tigers.

And speaking of Tigers, CBS, suck it. Why? Because Dan Bonner and your production talent stinks. I say that because my Dad likes having the volume up when watching games...so we got to hear this type of statement (in the afternoon)- "Teams with Tigers as a mascot are 2-0 today."

Thanks fellas! That's hard-hitting...girls between the ages of 7 and 10 are now riveted to the screen and will stay there for the next few minutes.

not a tiger

I know, I know, their talent is spread as thin as MLB pitching talent during the first two days of the NCAA tourney, but that doesn't change the fact that they should keep their damn mouths shut, just for a few seconds, during each contest. Atop that, they decided to play "around the bracket" during the first half of the Purdue game. That was great- it didn't happen at all during the Butler game, and honestly, I didn't see it during the entire rest of Thursday's coverage, but they left Purdue's game to check-in on games just beginning and clearly really liked just hearing themselves talk. Nothing was added by their cut-in...and it could have easily been done during a timeout...but that would have cut into commercial time. Instead, they decided to piss off the people watching their regional coverage. Jerks.

So, if you're anything like me, you'll be watching the majority of today with the volume low, if not completely muted...and while doing so, brace yourself for some upsets. Because if last year's any indicator, all hell might break loose this afternoon in Bracketland.

BS Tourney Challenge After Day 1

Well, now. 500 of you clowns join up and after day one, NONE of you are perfect. But we do have a 27-way tie for first place right now.

Just like last year, however, the wives of me and Boilerdowd are ahead of us. But not by much. And since my wife has Purdue playing Texas for the national title, well.... either she'll finish far behind OR, if that happens, she'll win us a lot of money, since I doubt that's in many brackets.

As I mentioned up above, my two favorite entry names are "Chief Pickingbrackets" and "May I e'twaun moore twinkie?" Out-standing work.

We have 23 entries that have Purdue as National Champions. We'll decide something special for all of you to win if the Boilermakers actually win the national title.

And we have somewhere around 35 entries with no champion selected. I know that I also forgot to plug in my champ until I saw my bracket status was "incomplete." This is obviously, for some reason, easy to overlook. Yahoo should probably figure out a solution. And on that subject, our apologies for using Yahoo. I was thinking about how much more I liked it than CBS or ESPN -- right up until I noticed it stopped taking entries at 500. That's effing stupid and, frankly, inexcusable. So our apologies on that. We'll have to go with ESPN next year -- I know for a fact you can have thousands in there. And by next year, Boiled Sports will probably be giving away a million dollars for our challenge winner. You know how it goes.

Back to the leaders. The trick, of course, at this point, is to not have lost any of your deep teams yet. If you get a few wrong in these first two days, so be it. But if none of your incorrects were teams you had going any further along, then you're golden. The other good news is that nobody's lost their national champs pick yet -- but that's always fun when it happens.

Everyone's bitching this morning that there were no surprises yesterday. Well, boo hoo. It was still awesome. And there were near surprises, which means the games were good.

As for today's games, I think it'll hold to form for the most part again. I have a weird feeling about Stephen F Austin against Syracuse (they seem due for a stinker) and I have a big feeling about North Dakota State over Kansas. No, I didn't pick these, so I don't get to take credit if they happen. But Kansas especially has a history of atrocious first-round bed-crapping. And NoDak State is on a huge high right now. And despite Kansas winning the Big 12 regular season, they are not the team that won the national title last season. They should still win big -- but I would be worried if I were a KU fan.

I did pick Wisconsin to upset FSU -- and will love to tell Digger to stick it up his caboose if it happens.

Boilers, As Always, Make It Interesting

As you know if you read this site, your Boilermakers held off a brick-throwing rally by the Northern Iowa Panthers yesterday to win their 11th straight first round NCAA game, 61-56 in Portland.

I spent the game doing a "liveblog" for Deadspin which, I have to tell you, is a little nerve-wracking, even for a handsome, James Bond lookalike such as myself.

At first, I couldn't get the stuff to publish as I was allowed access in the morning to test it out. And then, as gametime approached, my MMOD feed kept buffering, like, every 15 seconds. Not good. And then when I finally got the Purdue-UNI game up in front of me, the audio was from.... the Tampa Bay Rays preseason baseball game. Seriously, CBS? How does that happen? It was back when you'd sometimes get crossed phone lines (the readers under 30 are saying, "wait, crossed what now?")

The rest of the feed came in decently until, predictably, I lost the feed with 46 seconds to go in the game and when it came back all jumbled, the score had changed. Awesome when you're literally providing the game action for people who can't watch. The good news is there were 3500 view of the post and so if you're here because you linked over from Deadspin, welcome. We're a little nicer here. But not much.

As for the Boilermakers, when they came out of the gate playing well, with JJ and E'Twaun looking sharp, I -- like all of you, I'm sure -- felt good. And taking a 32-20 halftime lead when Robbie was doing almost nothing was also a nice feeling. But for as much as Dan Bonner and Kevin Harlan of CBS were talking about how badly UNI was getting outplayed, they'd had it a single-digit game until just before the half. And so yeah, they weren't playing well, but it wasn't a blowout. And that worried me.

I spoke to Boilerdowd at the half and he said I had nothing to be worried about. UNI looked slow and unable to run with the Boilers. They were also having every shot contested and were being pressured starting 25 feet from the basket -- something they did not look accustomed to. I was openly wondering why they weren't just tossing it down low to their 7'1" 290 lb tree, Jordan Eglseder. 'Dowd pointed out, astutely, that JJ's arms are too long to allow that. But JJ was outweighed by 75 lbs. Still, I will admit, I did feel that even though we weren't blowing them out, there was no way a defense-minded team like the Boilermakers should lose a game when leading by 12 with 20 minutes to go.

And then our streakiness came back. The cold shooting in the second half was jarring. Purdue could hit nothing, and it was made more jarring by the fact that the Boilermakers continued to outrebound UNI and caused quite a few turnovers. Converting those into no points is a bad, bad trend. It gives the opponent hope and allows them to relax a little.

In the end, UNI really wasn't a very good team but Purdue did what they've done too often this season and played to their level, seeming to lack that killer instinct to crush a team that is wobbling on the ropes. This will not do against a team like Washington.

More to come...

The ball is tipped...Soon

Is it bad that I get choked up every time I hear that song?
JJ gets some props at 2:02.

The New Season

Today at 2:30, the Rose Garden will host my favorite basketball team versus the Northern Iowa Panthers...If you're reading, you probably already know that Chris Kramer needs to stay out of foul trouble...The Ostrich needs to get into his rhythm and attack the glass...LewJack needs to play under control...KG needs to continue shooting a la KG of 2008...JJ & Smooge need to exert their will...and Nemmy needs to not do so behind the arc!

All joking aside, in spite of NI playing in the less-respected MVC, anyone can beat anyone in this tournament...Matty knows that- the question is, has he conveyed that effectively to the team? Hopefully, they're still hungry and humble in spite of EsPN's complimentary tone toward them...and the fact that around 90% of those filling out their own brackets think Purdue will win.

This time of year is the most-enjoyable one for me...and probably the players as well. But, nothing is less-enjoyable than being the top-story on all of the sports outlets because you were upset and helped create a Cinderella story.

Who to watch
Kwadzo Ahelegbe (#11), like Purdue's Sophomores, is counted on for a lot of output. He averages almost 12 points and over 3 assists...Ali Farokhmanesh (#5), a slightly shorter guard, has been one of the main offensive threats for the Panthers all season. He's a JuCo transfer who averages just under 10 points/gm and makes the team go (and he is the best three-point shooter on the team). Adam Koch (#34), a 6'8" forward, will probably draw the attention of Robbie Hummel. He's a 6'8" Junior who averages over 12 points, and 5 assists. But, their most noteworthy, and maybe most capable player is their quite large big man named Jordan Eglseder (#53). He's significantly larger than JJ, both in height and weight at 7'1" and nearly 300lbs. He averages over 10 points a game and 6.5 rebounds.

As you can see, this team's a lot like Purdue in that they're well-balanced and have multiple weapons capable of filling it up. And like Purdue, this team dominated their post-season all-confernce tournament team and had a lot of guys win awards for the reglar season accolades as well. And their coach, Jacobson was COTY for the MVC. They're also similar to Purdue in the fact that they rely heavily on the three point shot to help their offense

But, they haven't been successful versus the Big Ten. NIU is 8-36 versus opponents out of Purdue's conference...most of those games (38) were played versus Iowa. And speaking of those Lichlighter-coached Hawks, they beat NIU by 19 points at Iowa earlier this season. They also lost to fellow opponent Indiana State by one point at ISU. In the meat of their season, they won 12-straight conference games. But, they ended their season much like our Boilers, losing 4 of their last 7 regular season games before winning their conference tourney.

While I hope Purdue hasn't been reading their own press clippings, I definitely hope the Panthers have been reading about Purdue. Purdue is a good team who, hopefully, continues to get better...and unlike most of NIU's players, most of Purdue's guys have been here before...Here's to that being made obvious later today.

For Pete's Sake, Be Decisive About This

I find it amusing that the President's NCAA picks bracket features lots of cross outs and mind-changing, along with random question marks throughout his bracket.

He had Pitt advancing to the title game over UNC -- but then changed it to UNC. And he had Louisville winning it all -- until he switched that to UNC, too. Apparently, Michael Jordan texted him "WTF" on his blackberry or something.

He had UCLA over VCU, but then scratched out UCLA and wrote "VCU?" I don't know, el Presidente, that's what you need to decide. Same for his pick of Temple over Az State. It reads: "Temple?" Maybe he's saying he's never heard of Temple.

He made similar question mark entries over his pick of Louisville over Michigan State in the Elite Eight as well as Memphis over UConn in another E8 game.

I think my favorite, though, is in the lower right corner, in the South region. He picks Clemson, then scratches it out... and then picks Clemson again.

There's even a big "?" over the national champs spot. Is he saying, "Hey, this is all guesswork, people"? Maybe so. I'm glad he told me.

Of course, in the end, I have the same Final Four.

Pre-Tourney Gumbo

Welcome To Portland!!
In my business, I used to travel to Portland about once every 6 months. As a result, I consider myself a super-smart guy who should give advice. And since Matty has BS bookmarked as his home page, I figure giving a few pointers is the least I can do to help out my alma mater's basketball team during their road trip...so here goes-

-Take the fellas out to fish the Columbia River for some Sturgeon...They're huge and disgusting...but I'm told very fun to catch.

-Get in the team bus and go drive through the gorge...it's truly breath-taking.

-Go get a "Burger Smash" at Mui Mui's in the Pearl District...and the coaches should definitely go out for a pint at McMenamin's...the food's not too good, but all of these joints have a weird, artsy decor and a lot of good beers.

-Take the 45 minute drive to Nike in Beaverton...it'll either make you love the brand or hate 'em even more...But it's worth seeing.

Alright, alright, I'm just kidding- it's a business trip...Matty, handle your business, win two games and get back to God's country. But on your way out of town, grab a pretzel at Gustav's in the Airport...can't go wrong there.

Purdue Entitled to a Win
Terry Hutchens from the IU Star liked the Boilers in the BT tourney...and he was right. Now, the leader of the free world thinks our Boilers are getting at least to the round of 16 to play UConn...He's a pretty big college fan, so I guess that's not a bad thing.

Nevermind the economy...get your bracket filled, Barry!

Purdue also seems to be the trendy pick by the braintrust of ESPN to be the #5 that can kick the most arse and jot down a few names, in the process...While they're absolutely correct, let's hope the young men based out of West Lafayette aren't believing whats on the Center.

If UND wins in the NIT and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?
In the always-interesting NIT last night, some teams lost and some others won. Talor Battle's heroics kept the kitties hopes for number 66 alive...Steve Curry shot like he used to in the important tournament...and 15 domers came out to watch UND face Mike Davis' Blazers. EsPN told us how great the Irish fanbase was back in January...and they are still right! Their core fanbase of 5-or-6 is as good as any in the nation!!

Kickingstallionsims Out
Sadly, the Chief will not be playing any more games in the NCAA tournament. There will be no Kickingcardinalassims for 'Bama State.

Underachievers
Something for you to think about, and hatchet your bracket up with before the real dance begins- There are a few teams who drastically underachieved this season, but still might be able to make some noise in the field of 64.

Texas
aOSU
Arizona
USC

All of these squads are chocked-full of talent...and all seemed to be motivationally-deficient, at least during stretches of the regular season. Perhaps the big stage, bright lights, and feeling of imminent doom will motivate these four to play to their potential...or, maybe they'll continue to not reach their potential and their coaches will continue stealing money.

Tough Picks
The 12-5 matchup is historically filled with upsets...but this year, it seems the 11-6 games might yield an upset or two, methinks.

Also, I think a 2 or 3 seed will fall in the first two days of the tourney...Just seems like we're due for a shocker like that.

BS Spreading Like a Fungus

Much like my current city of Houston, we're sprawling about.... we've once again provided the Purdue tourney capsule to Deadspin (which will run on Thursday) and we've also provided the Boilermakers-related info for Rush The Court's massive tourney analysis.

Phew.

But that's not all! I also volunteered to liveblog the Boilers first-round game on Thursday against the Fighting Zephyrs of Northern Illinois over at Deadspin. So round about 2:30 Eastern, swing over there if you're interested. Or do what everyone else is doing and watch via March Madness on Demand.

As you were.