Two-Man Race for All the Marbles

I just checked out the BS Bracket challenge and was kind of astonished at what has transpired. We've got two guys/ladies that are in the driver's seat...If UM wins, one of them will win, if Louisville wins, the other shall win:

I'm almost positive that we've never had a champ that was in the 99.9th percentile...but this year we shall.  Not too far down the charts, I see a few names I know; congrats to you guys too! To be in the top 95% in America in guessing who's the champ skillfully predicting the outcome of the tournament is saying something. Thanks to everyone who entered.

I'm not sure why an MSU fan would enter our challenge...nor am I sure why an MSU fan would pull for UM to win it all...if UM wins, I'm sure we'll find out from Spartante86...if L'Ville wins, it'll be dkboilerfan writing the guest post. Either way, the stakes are palpably-high.

BS Bracketgasm Update

We've now reached that part of March (April?) Madness where everyone has bracket fatigue. No, nobody really cares what's going on in your bracket, unless you correctly nailed this year's Final Four.

Before I get into the BS bracket challenge details, I did want to share a bracket story you might like. I play in one that is run by a former colleague and encompasses anywhere from 600 to 1,100 participants each year. He has tons of payouts, rather than winner-take-all, though the overall winner does get 20% of an impressive kitty. Well, this year, one entrant had FGCU in the Sweet 16 and Wichita State in the Final Four. And she only finished second overall. So if you think you had a bad beat somewhere, just imagine being that prescient and still not winning.

As for our little challenge, usually by now it's all but wrapped up with only a couple of possible scenarios left. But not this year -- this year there is excitement. Or something. 

Leading the pack is gregmc0532 1, who actually nailed three out of four (all but Wichita St) and can still gain points for Syracuse making the title game, though he has Syracuse losing to Ohio State. So if Louisville loses and Syracuse advances to the title game, I do believe Greg will wrap it up.

We have a two way tie for second, with JenPershing getting two of the Final Four correct -- she has Louisville and Syracuse correct, with Louisville winning the title.

Tied with JenPershing is spartane86 1 who, like Greg, correctly picked three of the Final Four with the only miss being Wichita St. However, spartane86 1 has Michigan beating Louisville in the title game, so if this happens, I think he will be our champion.

Right behind spartane86 1 is dkboilerfan 1 who has Louisville over Michigan in the title game and if that happens, dkboiler would be your winner. I think.

If Louisville does not advance to the title game, I think this opens the door for Purdueless Brandon to make a run at the title, as he has UM winning it all and Louisville not in the title game.

Everybody got all this? My head hurts. And I'm not even sure I exhausted all the possibilities -- I just got tired of it.

Remember, the winner of the challenge gets the opportunity to post at BS (subject to our approval -- no nudies!) as well as some Boiled Sports swag (basically, we rummage around the basement of BS HQ and find you some stuff).

Boiled Sports Bracketgasm Update

Devoted Recruiter

Two rounds are now complete -- sorry, three rounds -- and so it's time to take a quick look at your Bracketsaster and see how things are shaping up.

Oh, and as a quick aside on this second round/third round nonsense, I just have to give a big F U to the NCAA for continuing to insult people's intelligence. Thursday and Friday were not the "second round." They're only the second round if we expand the bracket to 128 and give 60 teams a "bye" into the second round. And isn't that just...ridiculous? Of course it is. Those are play-in games, or "opening round" games works, too. They can even go with their kitchy "First Four" and I'm fine with it. It would actually make sense when you look back in ten years and see that, oh yeah, that one year VCU played in the First Four and still made the Final Four.

But now? Now the NCAA has muddied the waters when you want to look back at a coach's history, for example as this link to Jaime Dixon's record shows. Do you immediately know when the second round became the first round? And thus when Dixon's Pitt teams actually advanced? I would imagine it's hard for Pitt fans to know. Although it's easy to assume when it comes to Pitt's performance in the tourney.

Why do I care? Because I don't like stupid crap that makes things less clear all because what? We don't want to hurt the feelings of the teams in the play-in games? Who cares? They're playing basketball and they have a shot at the big prize. I know many Boilermakers who would have gladly taken a slot in the First Four.

Anyway, as to the BS Bracketstravaganza, we've got leaders in the clubhouse who are on their own right now. There is no tie at the top, as entry "robertmw1789 3" sits alone. He (I'm assuming a he) has three of four Final Four teams remaining with only Georgetown out (eek). His title game is IU over OSU, so I think it's safe to say we're all rooting against him. Sorry, Robert.

Alone in second place as of now is "indyhudson6 5," who also has three of four Final Four teams in play, with their one miss being New Mexico (seems bdowd and I weren't the only ones wooed by Steve Alford's beautiful hair) and a title game of Duke over Kansas.

After those top two, we have glut of entries tied at third. Leading the BS staff pack is the Panda, who is hanging tight at 14th place, though he deserves far worse for picking Gonzaga to go to the Final Four. He does, however, have his other three FF teams, with da U over Louisville for the title.

Games in this tournament resume Thursday evening, but you of course have the option of seeing your boys in Black and Gold tonight at 7 PM on...well, AXS.tv (formerly HDNet) has been covering the CBI, but my DirecTV channel guide tells me I get Houston/George Mason tonight, followed by Western Michigan/Wyoming. So if anyone has any intel on where to see the Boilers tonight (aside from Mackey Arena), please feel free to share.

BS Bracket Time!!

Get excited..It's tourney time!!!

I've got whatever sickeness LBD had a few days ago- I can barely see out of my right eye because of all of the gunk in it, my nose is running, I'm coughing...AND my Boilers have been asked to play in the CBI; not an ideal morning in March.  All that said, I still love this time of year and am excited to to have my wife kick my ass fill out a bracket for the in the yearly BS bracket challenge.

If you're not, you're either a Communist or a Communist, because there is simply no higher achievement than winning this very bracket.  To create a bracket and enter, CLICK HERE!!

In case that link didn't work, or you're phobic of clicking things, the bracket name is "BS March Happy Fun Smile"...group #106391 in EsPN's Tournament Challenge page.

We usually get around 1,000,000* entries, so your odds of winning are better than the powerball...but the prizes are better than a Powerball winner** because our contest makes you rich AND famous***!!!

In all seriousness, the winner of our Bracket Challenge will win a few things; one might be a chance to post on this site...a prize that has more value than cash; you can't simply buy it**** plus you'll win a few other things in J's parents' basement.



*We've never had close to 1,000,000 entries
**Our prizes are no where near as valuable as winning the Powerball
*** "rich and famous" are based on the author's opinion of wealth and fame
****you actually could buy it; name a price...we're listening.

Your NCAA Basketball Bracket Master and Overlord Finally Speaks

[You may recall that winners of the BS Handsome Bracket Challenge get a chance to post here, if they so choose. This year's winner, Kirk, not only has a decent post, but also uses this opportunity in front of BS's roughly 2.3 billion readers (again, I might have to check the figures) to promote his new site. Check it out to feed your ongoing hunger of all things Purdue and keep him honest. And now, please welcome Kirk.]

A guest post at Boiled Sports?  All for putting the smart money on Kentucky in the NCAA tournament (and narrowly beating J in the process)?  Talk about a dream come true. I mean it.

Not to get all hipster on you, but I’ve been reading the site since 2006 (back when some dude named Tim wrote posts).  As a bored graduate student and university employee, I was kicking myself for not starting a blog like Boiled Sports.  I would have fit right in, you see, my story is all about being Boilermaker.

I was born to two Purdue alums who both grew up in West Lafayette but found teaching jobs in suburban Chicago.  As a kid, we’d make the 2.5 hour drive most fall weekends to visit my grandparents and go to football games.  I grew up celebrating the back-to-back-to-back Big Ten champions in basketball, hating Jim Colletto (learning some new curse words thanks to fans in the stands) but loving Mike Alstott, and wearing my Purdue pride on my sleeve as I combatted all the Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Indiana fans that lived near me.  I still remember how nervous I was as I saw Glenn Robinson, still in high school, at Ross-Ade watching a game and meekly asked for his autograph.

Despite my roots as a Boilermaker, it took some fortuitous financial incentive for me to enroll.  My bags were packed for Duke (yep, make fun of me all you want, I deserve it), and it seemed odd as I sat in Cameron Indoor Stadium in the spring 1999 as a pre-frosh on a recruiting trip, surrounded by faithful Duke students and watched on the jumbotron as the Purdue women’s basketball team won the national title against the Blue Devils.  I almost got murdered as my silent rooting for Stephanie and Ukari sometimes manifested in loud claps and shouts of “yes!” (I still believe the only thing that saved me from a beating was the fact that the Duke men’s team would be playing the next night for the national title, so most of the Duke fans weren’t too torn up with the women losing).

Apparently that was the sign that I couldn’t resist the siren song of Purdue.  I was incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to spend a glorious 8 years on campus, completing a variety of undergraduate degrees and grad school.  Call me a geek, but it was hard to leave the place and the friends I’d made. 

BS Bracketalysis Time!!!

So, you think you're smarter than J or boilerdowd? That's unpossible.

But, you can try to prove that you're better at guessing the outcome of athletic contests than the Handsome Duo.  Good luck, you're gonna need it.

Plus, there's a chance you'll win a bazillion dollars* or a chance to rub J's achy body parts!!!!  Other prizes might include a possible chance to write a guest column on this very site, a beautiful pendant keychain, Indianapolis Firebirds box seats and an opportunity to fight boilerdowd in a prison-style brawl**.

Click Here...it'll make you fell good...everyone else is doing it...Matty wants you to do it.




*Give or take one bazillion dollars
**boilerdowd might or might not actually be a real person who fights somewhat like a four year old girl

Boilers Get the 10 Seed in Omaha

While J and I don't see eye-to-eye on this, I didn't like Purdue's odds to make it to the dance about a month and one-half ago...so, for me at least, this seeding is like playing with the house money for Matty's boys.

I know, I know, a lot of people had Purdue as an 8 or 9 seed...but as CBS announced the final region, and Purdue had not gotten its marching orders just yet, the idea of having to play UNC in North Carolina in the second round might have been the very-worst scenario for this Purdue team.

So, here's what we know:
-Purdue will be playing St. Mary's in Omaha on Friday.
-This will be the second time Purdue has played a Gaels team this season (Iona was the first)
-St. Mary's won the WCC, but the RPI has them as the second-best team in the conference...Gonzaga was slightly better.  The Gael players had Champion belts printed on the t-shirts they were wearing when they received their seeding on national TV.
-The WCC is the 11th-best conference in the land
-Of St. Mary's five losses, only one was versus a bad team- Denver.  The rest of their losses came versus teams in the top-25 of the RPI
-St. Mary's has a handful of Australians on their squad and a Lithuanian.  Their leading scorer is an Aussi- Dellavedova bombs threes (making 36% of them on the year) and averaged nearly 16 pts/gm and a whopping 6.3 ast/gm
-Their second-leading scorer is Rob Jones who averages nearly 15/gm.  He'll probably have Hummel and Byrd on him for most of the game on Friday

What's to like:
-Purdue has matched up with teams without a dominant big man pretty well all season.
-Our Boilers will be the underdog...versus a media darling mid-major.  Hopefully smart guys in the national media talk down Purdue all week- that's helped Matty motivate his squads in the past few years.
-Purdue has been very successful in early rounds of the tournament under Painter
-Not playing in Albuquerque or Portland
-SMC's champ belts make me think that they're cocky.  Good.
-Not having to play UNC, Syracuse or Kentucky in round 2

Aussi Aussi Aussi

What's not to like
-Playing a team that scores a lot of points and shoots the ball very well
-Having to hear about your Boilers as an underdog for the next four days...or worse, no one even talking about them- get ready for the latter.
-Playing in Omaha...with a potential second round game versus Kansas in their backyard
-It's an 8-9 hour drive for most Purdue fans to Omaha
-Teams like UConn, who played like dog crap for much of the year (like Purdue) were rewarded with higher seeds than Purdue
-LewJack tweaking his wrist and rumors of Hummel having a sore knee late in the game v. aOSU

Tip-off times will be released later tonight.

Tourney Seeding Update

A three? Nah, coach. Not this year.

Our Boilers finished the season with a thud yesterday, but that doesn't completely diminish their strong showing down the stretch. The Boilers wound up with a 20-11 record overall, with a 10-8 conference mark that includes a 3-1 finish that saw Purdue play some of their best ball of the season.

So where do they stand in the eyes of those who (think they) know?

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has been brought out of the dungeon to be cursed at for a couple of weeks and currently has the Boilermakers as a 9-seed, playing St. Mary's in the first round before a potential date with the clean Cats of Kentucky.

SB Nation also has the Boilermakers as a 9-seed, but in the Midwest playing Memphis (and potentially Kansas).

CBS' (and Purdue's very own) Jerry Palm also has the Boilermakers in the Midwest 8/9 game but as the 8-seed and playing Ivy champ Harvard. That could be fun, since Purdue hasn't slapped around Tommy Amaker in a while.

Bracketville agrees that the Boilers belong mid-pack and has them as an 8-seed in the West playing West Virginia (and then UNC).

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

So what we're seeing here is that much like Boilerdowd in a speedo, the consensus is generally that we're looking at a solid 8 or a 9.

A Handsome Look at the Tourney Field: HH 3/16/11

These handsome fellas get focused for the dance...

They talk about having faith...

They discuss tattoos...

And look at what makes an FF possible.

Tune in...Right now!!

(forward to the :47 second mark for the broadcast...get this- we had technical difficulties! [I know, hard to believe])

Listen to internet radio with Boiled Sports on Blog Talk Radio

A Beautiful Body Catches the Committee's Eye (and notes)

Leading up to the selection of this year's NCAA tournament, we heard that the last ten games of the season wasn't as important as the entire body of work. But, as a Purdue fan, you couldn't help but wonder how important the last two games would be in the minds and hearts of those who decided our Boilers fate.

I've tried to think about what happened in Iowa City and then Indianapolis...I've looked at it passionately and in a completely-biased manner and tried to separate myself and view as an outsider might. The latter led me to ask one main question:

-Does a team that plays dominant defense simply forget how to play that part of the game?

The answer of course is no. And I believe the committee thought the same way. As a result, JJ, Smooge and Co. take one more step forward and land Purdue at a 3 seed just two hours North of West La La in Chicago. In my mind, it couldn't be much better the way Purdue finished.

I've heard it said that instead of being overwhelmed by the scope of the entire tournament, it's best to break it down to a few smaller weekend tourneys. So here's Purdue's first tournament this coming weekend in Chicago:

This mini-tourney looks pretty winnable to me. Obviously, Georgetown jumps off the page right away as the team in the way of getting out of the weekend, but before the second round, Purdue will play a team that I have never seen play a game. If you're like me, you want to get a little educated before Friday...so here goes.

Knows nothing about Purdue

St. Peter's College comes to the big dance by way of the MAAC, like Purdue's first round opponent in last year's tourne, Sienna (they miss Coach Fran, by the way). They've been to the NCAA tournament twice ('91 v. Texas, '95 v. UMAss) but have never won a game in the tourney. They finished in the upper middle of the conference, but obviously won the conference tourney (they upset Iona in the Championship). As little as I know about them, their coach, Jon Dunne, might know about the same about Purdue.

"Hopefully the staff has started watching film already, because we know nothing about Purdue"

That sounds like a good start for Purdue. Dunne's team thought they'd be a 15 seed and that they'd be playing UConn, UNC or another team that they had actually watched on TV...but instead, they end up playing some small school that no one knows about from Indiana (where is that anyway??).

St. Peter's Wesley Jenkins

They started off the season 0-3 as their leading scorer, Wesley Jenkins, couldn't play due to injury for nearly two months of this season. They don't have a win versus an RPI top-50 team and their best win of the season was their final game of the MAAC tourney as they beat the 70th-ranked Iona Gaels.

Their starting line-up has a pair of 6'7" forwards, one of them, Ryan Bacon, leads the team with 7.5 reb/gm. Their PG, Nick Leon, leads them in assists (3.1/gm). The guy who might create the most problems for Purdue is the 6'2" Wesley Jenkins who is a four years starter. Along with Jenkins, the Peacocks start two other Seniors and a pair of Sophomores. Their rotation is typically 8-deep and their Seniors play more than anybody.

They consider themselves a "scrappy" team that isn't fun to watch...something we Purdue fans can appreciate since Matty's squad has looked like that from time-to-time. They're a stout defensive team as they allow only 59.9 pts/gm (12th)...but at the same time, they struggle offensively scoring only 61.4 (315th).

We'll give our opinion on the match-up as the week progresses...you can draw your own conclusions for now.

Purdue ended the season with a CCR of 9.7.

Other Notes

Purdue is 11-5 versus the 9 teams they played during the season that made the tourney. And judging by MSU's seeding (10), they needed the throttling they gave to Purdue on Friday to get into the dance. The highest-seeded tourney opponent Purdue played is of course the number one overall aOSU Buckeyes. The lowest seeded is the 14th seeded Sycamores from ISU.

The most-surprising snub of this year's bracket to me is St. Mary's. They had wins over St. John's and Gonzaga, and were ranked for big chunks of the season. But a low RPI (45) and a ton of teams in that range probably forced them out.

From the Purdue family, Kevin Stallings Vandy squad got a 5 seed, Lavin's St. John's Red Storm landed at 6, Weber's Illini got a 9 seed. Cuonzo Martin's Missouri State team will be hosting Murray State in the NIT.

My favorite matchup of the entire first round is Kentucky v. Princeton. I love it when the tourney committee gets creative in their matchups. Go Tigers.

Join the BS Bracket Extravaganza!!

The BS Bracket Challenge Extravaganza: Join Now

Can you believe it's that time again?

In just a matter of days, the seeds will be set, the brackets will be revealed, and Becky in accounting will win your office pool and piss you off.

But fret not. Because there's another group to play with and it's right here, the Boiled Sports Bracket Challenge Extravaganza. (Group 14992 if you need it.)

Join and play against us...and each other. For every entry that beats Boilerdowd, he has promised to do a lap around the Purdue campus carrying Tim on his shoulders.

And for the winner, you get some Boiled Sports swag, the option to do a post here at Boiled Sports and a guest appearance on our final podcast of the season in early April. And if that's not enough, you could also win $10,000.*

So join up, bizznatches. It's on.



*If you beat everyone in the entire Tourney Challenge, not just in the BS Challenge.

So You're Tellin' Me There's A Chance?

For those who don't follow us on Twitter and haven't seen this on their own yet, a 17 year old in the Chicago-land area has picked Purdue to go all the way in his bracket.

"So what?" you're saying... "A bunch of idiots in the BS bracket challenge did the same thing."

Well, yes, but do any of those idiots have their bracket 100% accurate after 48 games? Seriously, 48-0?

While there seems to be some sentiment online that this is a hoax, NBC surely believes it, as they wrote the article and then emailed the link to us, thinking we might be interested.

Odds of a perfect bracket at this point. One in 13,460,000. And while that's pretty amazing, completing the trick is even longer: somewhere between 1 in 35,360,000 and 1 in 1,000,000,000,000.

Tell you what, I'll put a fiver on this kid.

Everybody Into The Pool!

Yes, that means you.

Join the Boiled Sports NCAA Tourney Extravaganza. First prize is $10,000*!

You also get a post on BS as well as a guest appearance on the Handsome Hour that follows the Final Four on April 7.

Lil Boilerdowd has just made his picks and it looks like Purdue will blow out MSU in the final. Get your tickets now.

*First place in the entire ESPN audience, that is.

The BS Bracket Challenge Extravaganza Returns

And this time, we hope not to bump into a maximum number of entrants as we did last year.

I've created a group on ESPN's Tournament Challenge page and you'll want to join the group emblazoned with "Boiled Sports," or group 3809.

So not only will the winner win valuable prizes (not really) if they win the BS challenge, they might also win $10,000 for winning the ESPN challenge. (Which, really, ESPN? Only ten grand? For something 3 or 4 million people enter? Weak.)

Yes, we'll remind you more about it, but you know you don't want to miss this. There's nothing more fun than proving how much more you know about college basketball than us. And the winner gets all sorts of trappings, including:

-- Free reign for their own guest post on Boiled Sports (now read by tens of people!)

-- Guest-spot on the Handsome Hour on April 7

-- A date with Boilerdowd's son (this may seem odd, but he meets all sorts of famous basketball players, so it's a worthwhile prize)

-- A night of passion with Tim

-- As-yet-undetermined prizes

Party like it's 1996

J Money back in 1996

Back in '96 when the staff of BS roamed the halls of Cary Quad, ate Mad Mushroom Cheese Sticks without conscience at 1:00am, and watched their Boilers win the third-straight BT title, the world was different. BoiledSports.com was merely a twinkle in my and J's eyes, Gene Keady's scowl carried some weight, The Big Three were seven years old and Brian Cardinal and I both had hair on the top of our heads. Yes, a lot of living has occurred since Purdue last won a regular season title.

A big goal by Matty and company has been attained.

They made the long trip to Happy Valley and squared off against a scrappy Lions squad in front of a not-so-hostile crowd and came away with a close victory. PSU had been flirting with beating a good squad- they played aOSU closely for 38 minutes in the same building a week ago...then nearly beat MSU at the Breslin Center just days ago. I had a bad feeling about this game a few weeks ago, and didn't feel good about it coming into this one. I knew the National Champs wouldn't go down easily. And they didn't...But, I like what I'm seeing from the Boilers.

They looked flat-out awful in multiple facets of the game versus MSU as the forces of good struggled to rebound and shoot while only mustering 44 points. Versus the Takin-It-Easy-Hoosiers, they shot better, but still struggled rebounding the ball. But this afternoon, versus the second place team in the league in rebounding margin, Purdue won the rebounding battle. Atop that, they nearly shot 50%. The free throw shooting is still bothersome...but unlike so many parts of the game, a team can work on this and see dividends, so there is hope. But, leaving an extra 3-5 points on the floor can easily be the difference in a game versus an opportunist squad.

Smooge didn't play great offensively, but hit a lucky straight-on bank three pointer and a pair of free throws that pretty much won the game. Grant was colossal from behind 20 ft. 9in. and shot like he did a few years ago- a much higher percentage from farther away than inside the arc. JJ did what he simply must do for Purdue to win right now- scored 21, rebounded 10 and blocked 3 while staying out of foul trouble. On top of just the stats, he had, arguably, the nastiest dunk I've seen in a few years on a fast break in the second half. Plus, he cleaned the glass to a sparkling shine without any streaks or residue at key junctures of the contest. His pal Kelsey Barlow also had 6 rebounds...and a few put backs of his own. Like JJ, when he decides to do great things...he can. LewJack didn't do a lot on the scorer's sheet, but pushed the ball well and connected with JJ on a few tasty assistesses. Kramer had 4 steals and shot with confidence. The bench was shorter (3 deep), mainly because everyone, sans LewJack stayed out of serious foul trouble.

The good guys win, 64-60...improve to 26-4 and got to enjoy an impromptu BT Champs parade upon arrival back in West Lafayette as the students heeded Kramer's request to have everyone meet them back at the airport. Good win...good regular season...now, onto Indy.

Purdue will face the winner of IU and Northwestern on Friday at 6:30pm. Not that IU's scary, but I don't think it's ever good to face a rival just days after cleaning their clocks...so I'm rooting for NU- I've always liked this team when it's got revenge at the forefront of its collective conscious. If I remember the Mildcat faithful storming the court back in January, I bet the fellas do as well.

Just win, baby.
Today's losses by Kansas State and Syracuse don't have much effect on Purdue's seeding, in my opinion...but the next 7 days could yield a lot of changes in the top-3 seeds. My guess is that Purdue's nearly a lock for a 2 seed...but, knocking off MSU and aOSU would go a very long way in potentially earning the Boilers a #1 or maybe a #2 very close to home. Keep in mind, the braintrusts at EsPN have nothing to do with the seedings and pairings...thank God. Bracketology 101 is a good alternative source for perspective on the tourney before it happens, in case you're itching for more useless prognostication.

Dumbass of the night
Oh, there are so many jacks on TV...but the guy that annoys me over and over is the BTN's Tim Doyle. He made the dumbest statement he's made in a long time (and that's saying a lot) following the Purdue game...He said if the game had been 5-10 minutes longer, Penn State would have won. Hmmmm.

Derrrrrrrrrrr...

If the game would have been 5-10 minutes shorter, Purdue would have won by 10.

If donuts made me smarter, I'd be a brain surgeon by now...I'm sure of it.

Tool.

The NCAA Stinks

I think everyone should get a trophy

The NCAA tournament is loved by everybody (except PSU and Northwestern fans)...even small schools like Fairleigh Dickinson, who only go every now and again love it. Heck, my Mom likes it (kinda) and she knows nothing about college basketball.

At the same time, not many like the BCS. The average Joe thinks the system's flawed. College football fan bases from Auburn to Boise to Salt Lake have seen the error in the formula -- it's not broken...it just never worked. But, the folks at EsPN and Fox love it...and the NCAA offices in Indy simply will not look this gift horse in the mouth and urinate all over Title IX...so what to do???

The solution is simple: Ruin the NCAA basketball tournament.

Brilliant!!

Who wouldn't want to see LaSalle and UIC in the Big Dance??

If you're from Indiana, you know about how awesome it can be to be politically-correct and include as many teams as possible in the end-of-the-year tournament. If you're not from Indiana, here's what happened: Class basketball didn't exist in the state until 1998. Prior to that, the energy in the Sectionals was incredible. And honestly, a Sectional championship was the equivalent of one of the four state championships in the current day.

But, Mommies and school principals wanted more of their babies to have a chance at a state championship trophy, so we all lost. Epic battles between Robinson and Henderson to a sold-out Hoosier Dome have been replaced with no-names playing to a one-third full Conseco Fieldhouse. Sure, the 4A title usually includes names like Oden, Gordon, Moore and others, but it's just not the same.

The last tournament expansion has drawn rave reviews from some(people who live in Dayton)...but most people didn't see the need. To me, the solution is simple- less is more. If some feel the incessant need to expand the tourney, it doesn't need to be a doubling of the field. Just make it an event- one play-in game per region. I'd go one step further and make it in just one or two locations to keep the arenas full.

The only thing that really need to be changed is the multi-purpose facilities need not to be used for anything other than the Final Four. Heck, even then, they're awful for watching basketball. But having regionals in such venues makes it unpleasant for the fans who attend and makes the game look lousy as many games are played to throngs of empty seats.

You'll see a theme in my writing...Contraction is the answer, not expansion. From the NFL talking of ruining a good thing by broadening the season to the NBA's talk of more teams outside of US borders...it's just not needed. Always leave them wanting more.

The NCAA shouldn't flood the market with tickets for single games, but make it a tougher ticket and raise the prices...make it noisier, more of a madhouse...it makes the end product better. Make it special, not cheap.

In the same way, the tournament shouldn't be viewed as something for everyone...it's an event for the best teams in the nation; something to aspire to. It's OK if the third-best team in the Horizon League and much of the bottom half of the major cons don't get invited.

I know, I know (Penn State fans), every year someone is left out of the tournament...but as IU basketball/Notre Dame football fans always say, there's always next year, right?

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.

Jane In Accounting Thinks This Bracket Business Is Easy

And do you know why she thinks that? Because all four number 1 seeds have made it to the Final Four. How effing boring. But at least it should mean that the Final Four games are actually good this year, unlike most of the games in recent years. Four powerhouses, the four everybody theoretically should want to see are there. And even though I have Kansas winning it all, I have to admit I was pumped to see Davidson hang with them yesterday. Until, of course, they realized they were "just Davidson" and coaching decisions were left to Steph Curry's mom or something. Seriously, with a timeout to draw up a play and 16 seconds on the clock, down by two, the best you can do is give the ball to Curry and... what?

"Okay, men... this is what it all comes down to... I, I... um... gulp... I don't know, I'm too excited! What do we do?? Steph! Do you want the ball?? Cool! Tell you what, you just take the ball up the court and win the game. That's the play! Everybody else! You stand around and watch Steph!"

Seriously, that's what his teammates basically did until there were about 2 seconds left and Curry was being triple-covered. So then, down by two, the best move is a 25-footer that would get you yelled at if you threw it up during a pick-up game at the co-rec. Good run by Davidson, but they should take more heat than they are for that final play.

Anyway, back to the brackets. Entry adrenaline leads all comers with 98 points, one ahead of a tie for second between K-Towns 2 and K-Town 2. And yes, those are from different Yahoo users. Spooky, I know. Boilerdowd is keeping the BS staff looking less stupid than we might otherwise, by hanging around in 6th place, while his wife is just 5 points behind him in 14th place.

Yahoo allows us to use their "Scenario Generator" to figure out who might win our bracket. (Wouldn't it be fun to use the "Scenario Generator" for other things in life? Like, "If I hit my golf ball into the meathead's group in front of me because he's a douchebag, what's the likelihood that he'll come beat me to death with his flop wedge?")

Anyway, here are just some of the fun possibilities:

UNC and Memphis play for the title with UNC winning: Boiler Up wins (currently 5th). Same matchup, but with Memphis winning gives the contest to me so horney me love you long (currently 37th).

Kansas over Memphis: A WHOLE LOT OF 3'S wins (currently 4th).
Memphis over Kansas: CA Boilermaker (currently 24th).
UNC over UCLA: adrenaline (current leader in the clubhouse).
UCLA over UNC: Revs Bracket (currently 8th).
UCLA over Kansas: Lutz Minnoy & Watt Are Smart (Boilerdowd, currently 6th).

You get the idea. And you can play with the generator to your heart's content, once you're done with your picnic table.

Only three games left in the college basketball season. They should actually be good, too.

Reminisce: Taco Bell Memories (& tourney notes)

The tremendous discussion about late-night West Lafayette food got me thinking about one of my favorite late-night dining stories during my four years in God's country. A few of our regular visitors will remember this one; and one of those visitors was there to enjoy it with me. Here's the stage:

It was around 11:00 pm, during finals week, second semester in I believe 1995. My college room-mate and I had been studying and wanted to take a break. The two of us, along with a guy from the third floor (we lived on the fourth at Cary) decided to go make a fountain run. Back then, the fountain had no stainless steel tube running vertically up the middle. This allowed for people to sprint across the man-made geyser or be held by their hands and feet and the water would lift them up as it hit them in the back.

We'd run through it at a full-speed sprint despite the fact that you couldn't see through the two-foot wide cylinder of water. I'm 5'4" and at that time weighed around 120 lbs. My two buddies aren't little and one of them probably was around 250 at the time. On the last run of the night, I put my head down and hit the wall of water, only this time, the water pushed back (or so I thought) and I hit it like a brick wall. I got knocked down to the grate underneath and gathered myself to see what I had actually hit.

It was my buddy, still standing...but bleeding profusely from right around his eye. The top of my head had hit him in the face, and both of us had been running full speed and had no idea the other was coming from the other direction. He needed stitches.

So, we went through the fun game of finding a car to drive to the hospital since none of us owned transportation at the time. We found a car, headed to the emergency room. Later, like two proud parents-to-be, BWA and I waited nervously for our wounded friend to come out of the ER. He finally did...and then we did what we thought was best for all of our collective health: headed to Chauncey for Taco Bell.Not much else was open that sounded good. And I believe it was around 2:30 am. So we all ordered and sat down. The next booth over, Todd Foster, the guy who IU fans remember for dancing on the "IU" in center court, was enjoying his drunken snack. Todd was wearing a camo trucker's cap (long before those were in style, mind you) that read "Foster's Towing" (we presumed his Dad's business). Our buddy was black and blue and had around 20 black nylon threads above his eye, but he was probably in better shape than Foster. Despite #20's state, he was in good enough shape to talk about what had transpired that evening and offered his condolences to our battered friend...We all went on to get straight A's on our finals the next day.

Tourney Notes
In my imaginary world, Purdue beat WVU last night in convincing fashion and is getting ready for Saturday nights big Elite 8 match-up. Also, Grant and Kramer have been miraculously heeled and Johnson put on 10 lbs. of muscle during the week off...Go Boilers!

How in the Sam Hell does UCLA get two first round-like games? The tournament committee really screwed this year's bracket up. Think about it- You've got a #12 seed still alive (as of last night) from a small conference and no one cares or notices. Why? Because they had played no one to get there- #5 seed Drake and then San Diego. Despite the third round mismatch, UCLA nearly let WKU beat them in the Bruins second scare in two games for this talented, yet motivationally-challenged ball club. Maybe my national champ pick isn't so sound...

Lastly, while it will hurt my bracket, I'm rooting heavily for MSU to beat Memphis tonight. I am not a fan Calipari and have never been a believer in the Tigers this season...Get 'em Sparty!