8 Seconds Plus - Broncs Tales with Jonah Goldberg

Farewell

2008-12-31T21:31:00.004-06:00

As the year comes to a close, so have my dealings with the University of Texas Pan-American. I never got a chance to give a proper goodbye on the air, and I was waiting until my situation was resolved to post anything here.

On November 10th, five days before the men's basketball season began, I was informed that my position was being eliminated. How this affects me is the least of it. The real shame is that you, the fans, are now unable to follow the action of the Broncs live.

It is what it is, though. The purpose of this post is not to tell you all of the aggravating details, but rather to give that proper goodbye to anyone who is still checking this blog.

---

Last year with UTPA was an incredible experience. I don't think about it these days, but I know one day I will be able to look back on that part of my experience fondly. The coaches, players and training staff never treated me anything but well. I enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with these wonderful individuals.

I'll never forget my first road trip with the men's team. We were traveling to Missouri State and it happened to be my birthday. I ate at TGI Friday's at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport with Ryan Buck, Danny Puente, Ben Smith and Zach and Jacob Trader. I decided to get a piece of cake for dessert as my "celebration," so the cat was out of the bag. And you know what? They sang Happy Birthday to me. I barely knew them at this point, but that didn't seem to matter. It was at that point I knew it was going to be a good year.

During halftime of the second game of that tournament, I interviewed Nick Weiermiller's father on the air. I had never previously met him, and he had never heard me because that was the last game before we got on the internet. That didn't stop him.

I have other fond memories - ringing the bell for excellent service at the Arby's in Bozeman, Montana (imagine you're running a small fast food restaurant and a whole team suddenly shows up. They earned that bell); my visit to Disney World when we went to the UCF Tournament and had an off-day in Orlando (I actually ran into some UTPA fans who asked me why I wasn't at practice); the Chicago Bulls game I got to attend with the players and Lewis Reed (one of the trainers) during an off-day in between games against Chicago State and Northwestern. Coach Schuberth was able to get a group rate for the team and he got us tickets, and it really meant a lot to me that I was included. Tickets to an NBA arena aren't cheap, and I certainly would have understood if they had not offered me a chance to attend. I grew up as a Bulls (well, Michael Jordan) fan, so it meant even more to me. I'll never forget how it was in the 50s when we left the hotel, so none of us brought jackets, and how it was 17 degrees and snowing when we ran through the parking lot to the bus. The bus driver was laughing hysterically at us. We earned that.

Though I didn't get to travel with the women's basketball team, I enjoyed covering them just as much. They had some exciting moments - such as Tiona Wilson's game-tying buzzer beater against Tennessee-Martin before LeKeisha Gray took over in the overtime win. The win over Utah Valley in the first round of the National Independent Tournament was incredible as well. I was thrilled to be a part of that tournament, not just broadcasting two of the three games each day, but also in the planning of the format. Also, the food at the pre-tournament banquet was awesome. Coach Dickerson was the first person I spoke to after I got the news of my job disappearing. I can't thank her enough for being there for me.

The support I received from family/friends/fans of the Broncs was incredible. I am happy to have gotten a chance to know all of you. Whether it was the Traders and Stolls seemingly everywhere we went, Ryan Buck's father, or some random UTPA students. The kind words and support I received really touched me. Hopefully I was able to do the same for you.

I enjoyed my year so much, that despite recurring payroll issues, I decided I wanted to come back. After the change at Athletic Director, I was assured that my job was secure, so I chose not to pursue other opportunities because of my desire to return. And though that didn't work out as it was supposed to, had I left on my own accord, I would have always felt wrong for leaving what I thought was a great situation without knowing what would happen.

It wasn't easy at first, but perhaps the best advice I got came from someone I have never met. Barbara Falla, the wife of the late-Jack Falla, once said, "Anyone can love summer, but to love winter you have to carry your sunshine around with you."

Many thanks to my family and friends for helping me to find that sunshine.

And now I leave you with the final passage from Jack Falla's Home Ice, the book I got that above quote from:

As I look in our guest book I see that I have taken the final skate in three of the six seasons we've been keeping that record. Twice by myself. Once with Barbara. And all three times I knew intuitively that it would be the final skate. And even when I wasn't the last skater off the ice in a given season, I still knew when I was taking my own last skate, and on those days I stayed out longer and skated harder. Of course I didn't skate any better, I just did what I've tried to do ever since I took those first shuffling strides with my mother – skate as well as I can. Because life is different from a skating season, and in life you never know which skate will be your last. Only that one of them will be.

Kingsville Upsets Broncs 58-54 in Exhibition

2008-11-08T22:33:00.005-06:00

I apologize for the lack of truly live blogging today. I was unable to access the internet at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Below are my thoughts in chronological order from today's game and what you would have seen during the game had I been able to update.

5:30 - There's nothing like the excitement of approaching the doors of the UTPA Fieldhouse with the music blaring less than two hours before tip-off. It's something I've missed over the last few months. I like to get here early sometimes just to see who is out first and taking extra shots. Today it's Taylor Schneider, shooting at the goal on the left.

5:50 - Schneider took a five minute break and has just returned to the court. Joining her is Janita Session. They are only using one ball - rebounding for each other, taking turns taking large numbers of shots. Schneider is currently dancing while rebounding. She and Session both have big smiles on their faces, suggesting they're loose and relaxed.

5:52 - Jessica Walker, Sherrill Davis just came out.

5:53 - Andrea Garza and Shavon Walker are now shooting as well.

5:54 - It's becoming a parade of Broncs as Maria Ben Erlingsdottir just joined the fray.

5:55 - Here come Danielle Kostacky, Epiphany Smith and Teshay Winfrey.

5:56 - Robin Garrett, come on down, you're the next player to start taking shots!

5:58 - The Broncs are wearing new warmups this year. They're white tops with black sleeves that are connected by a black stripe across the back of the next. There's a forest green Bronc right below that stripe. On the front it says UTPA in orange with forest green trim. There's a black Nike swoosh above the U. The Broncs are wearing long black pants with thin white stripes down the sides and a white Nike swoosh on the left thigh.

6:01 - It looks like all the Broncs are out. They had been using the whole court, but the first Javelina just took the court to start warming up. She is shooting at the right basket. The Broncs returned their balls to the rack to start jogging up and down the court. This is the precursor to stretching.

6:10 - There are currently 12 Javelinas on the right side of the court, stretching. Their roster shows 14 players, and I know at least two did not make the trip, meaning they're all out there.

6:15 - The cheerleaders are now here. I know Coach Craft is excited that the cheerleaders, dance team and band will all be performing at this game even though it's an exhibition.

6:16 - The Broncs are done stretching and they are now shooting at the left goal. Every time I count I get a number as high as 16 or as low as 13. There should be a roster size limit, if for no other reason than to help us broadcast types out. If broadcasters ran the world, all athletes would have to wear large numbers with visible names. Hair would not be allowed to be grown long enough to cover those names or numbers. Of course, it's not such a big deal in basketball because we can see the players' faces, so with the home team at least, we know who all the players are after watching a practice or two. It's those other sports that can be a problem sometimes. All hail basketball!

6:18 - The band has just arrived. They are currently bringing in their music stands.

6:20 - The dance team is here too.

6:26 - The Broncs just left the court for their final pre-game strategy/pep-talk in the locker room. The Javelinas left the court before them, possibly while I was writing the jersey rant a few minutes ago.

6:34 - The Javelinas just retook the court to the applause of three fans. A few members of the band screamed out in response.

6:38 - One member of the band is warming up on an electric guitar. Does anyone member if the band had an electric guitar last year? I don't think so. The only time I remember seeing that was at Missouri State with the men's basketball team.

6:40 - The Trader family just arrived. They came down for the weekend to watch Jacob participate in Midnight Madness last night.

6:51 - The 12-piece pep band just began playing. The first song? "Louie Louie" of course!

6:54 - The Broncs are still on the court going through warm ups. The Javelians are back in the locker room.
-Tiona Wilson just arrived to cheer on her former teammates.
-Now the band is playing "You Can Call Me Al."

6:56 - The Broncs just left the court.
-Jim Lancaster, trainer and facilities director/assistant athletic director extraordinaire is currently trying to fix the left net. 4:30 until the national anthem...

6:57 - The Javelinas have returned to the court for final warmups.

6:58 - The cheer squad is lined up outside the Broncs locker room with flags in hand and Bucky the Bronc ready to lead the way when the Broncs take the court.

6:59 - The net has been fixed. *phew*

7:00 - I just noticed LeKeisha Gray in the stands to also cheer on her former teammates.

7:01 - The cheer squad just flipped onto the court followed by people running with the four flags (U-T-P-A) and the dnace team with pom-poms. The Broncs followed and are no huddling on the left side of the court.

7:02 - The Broncs will be sitting on the right bench while the Javelinas are on the left.

7:04 - Time for a recording of the National Anthem. I wonder why the band's not playing it. Maybe I should've volunteered to sing it. That would have been fun.

7:05 - Here are tonight's starting lineups:

Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas:
13 Reagan Sutton - C
15 Angela Franklin - F
21 Dyana Bullinger - G
22 Felicia Soza - G
25 Ursula Hill - G

University of Texas Pan-American Broncs:
32 Maria Ben Erlingsdottir - C
52 Aleeya Grigsby - F
2 Epiphany Smith - PG
25 Rose Esther Jean - G
31 Taylor Schneider - G (though she was announced as a F, I'm guessing that was an error)

7:08 - "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!!!!"

7:09 - It will be Grigsby against Franklin for the tip, and it's won by Grigsby. The Broncs moving from right to left
-Ben Erlingsdottir starts with a three-pointer from the right corner. She didn't hit a three in the regular season last year, but did hit four in the pre-season exhibition last year.

7:10 - Franklin responds with a three from the left wing. So two bigs who can shoot from the outside.

7:11 - Smith just hit her first shot as a Bronc - a three from the left wing.
-Fraklin responds with another three, this one from the right wing.

7:12 - TAMUK is trying a full-court press, and while the Broncs managed to get down the court, they did end up turning the ball over to setup a Soza driving lay-up.

7:13 - Robin Garrett into the game to replace Ben Erlingsdottir.

7:14 - Garrett immediately contributes with a lay-up
Bullinger just hit a three. The Broncs zone defense is not denying the long shot right now.
-Teshay Winfrey replaces Schneider

7:15 - We hit our first media timeout. When we come Brittany Demery will replace Grigsby. There's 15:48 left in the first half and the Javelinas lead 11-8. The only foul of the game belongs to Bullinger.
-The early returns appear to be that the Broncs will get a lot of players into this game as they try to see what they have. As a DII-team, it is possible that Kingsville will be more concerned with trying to pull up the upset, despite the exhibition nature of the game.

7:17 - Hill just drained a three. The Javelinas are getting great looks at the long shot. So are the Broncs, but they've missed a couple of wide open shots.

7:18 - Tammi Mitchell just replaced Bullinger.
-Winfrey is running the point on this possession with Smith dropping to shooting guard. The Broncs graduated three point guards, so they're trying to figure out who's going to ruin it this year.

7:19 - The Broncs are now playing a 2-3 zone, and this time were able to deny the three by forcing a travel..
-Smith just hit a driving lay-up. She's 5'4, but undeterred.

7:20 - Mass substitutions for the Broncs. Marah Guzman is now running the point. She is joined by Janita Session, Taylor Schneider, Demery and Ben Erlingsdottir.

7:22 - The Broncs' defense just prevented Kingsville from getting anywhere near the arc, forcing a turnover on an errant pass to the near sideline.
-Still, it's raining threes as Kelly Bastow just hit one.

7:23 - We hit our second media timeout. It's 17-10 Kingsville with 11:47 to go. Both teams have already committed six turnovers.

7:25 - The Broncs make two substitutions off the timeout as Grigsby and Smith replace Demery and Guzman.

7:26 - The Broncs are really passing the ball. For the last two possessions they ran the shot clock all the way down before creating a shot for Session. The first one missed the mark, but this one found the bottom of the net.
-Jean replaces Schneider.

7:27 - The Broncs just extended their zone, sending the two people in the front to pressure the point guard. Grigsby was able to steal the ball way and drive down for a lay-up. The ball didn't go in, but she was fouled. Grigsby hit one of the two shots.

7:28 - The Javelinas sure do like to travel, or maybe it's the Broncs' defense. I've seen at least four or five in the first 10:20 of this game.

7:30 - Grigsby has her right thumb taped up, possibly immobilized. She was just shaking it after hitting the ground on an offensive possession. This is a situation to watch.

7:32 - We've reached the third media timeout. It's 17-13 Javelinas with 7:42 to go. The Broncs are doing a great job of cutting off the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. Not only have the Javelinas not scored in more than four minutes of game play (10 minutes in real time), but I can't even remember the last time they got a shot off. Kingsville got off to a fast start, but that ship has sailed. If the Broncs can start hitting shots they have a chance to take a big lead.

7:33 - The song I've been waiting for all night and it gets cut off prematurely! I call it "The Song." It's officially known as "Eat 'Em Up." The conductor cut off the band when he heard the timeout buzzer, even though he stil had time before game play restarted. Hey, it's an exhibition for all of us, right? As long as they play it again I won't hold a grudge.

7:34 - Soza just hit a lay-up to end the Javelinas' drought, but the Jean responds. Hill responds by running down the court for a three.

7:35 - On the ensuing possession, Ben Erlingsdottir hits a lay-up. What a change of pace!
-Winfrey replaces Session.

7:36 - Garrett replaces Ben Erlingsdottir.

7:37 - Jean is on the board again after a short-range jumper, but Franklin runs down to the top of the key for her third three to put the Javelinas back up by six.

7:38 - Smith would've just had another three-pointer if not for a traveling call. When I first heard the whistle by first thought was, four-point play? The lack of contact by the Javelinas' defense not withstanding, of course.

7:39 - Smith's knees just got taken out by Soza. Soza is 5-8, so she had to croutch down to knock over Smith and pick up the foul. Smith is just fine.

7:40 - Winfrey just found a three from the left wing. Nothing but net, it's a one possession game. Of course, as a I write that Nikki Thering runs down and hits a three to make it a five point game again.
-How about Demery muscling her way through two defenders and staying with a missed shot to get the offensive rebound and put the ball back in the basket? I thought she drew some contact, but nothing was called.

7:41 - Our final media timeout of the half. 2:58 left and it's 28-24 Javelinas. Kingsville is 8-13 from behind the arc. Read that again. That's 61.5%. They're only 2-5 from short range. Conversely, the Broncs are 3-6 from deep and 10-22 over all.

7:43 - Franklin just hit one of two free throw attempts to restart play.

7:44 - Ben Erlingsdottir replaces Grigsby.

7:45 - 1:43 left and we get our first one and one of the game. Both teams are currently 1-2 from the line. Mitchell is taking the shots and hits both to make it 31-24 Kingsville.

7:46 - Smith just drew a charge. The Broncs are finding every possible way to force turnovers. That's the kind of defense Coach Craft preaches: aggressive.

7:47 - Jean hits a lay-up to bring the Broncs within five and Craft calls a 30-second timeout with 59.5 seconds left. Use it or lose it, after all.

7:48 - With 31.8 seconds left, an errant Javelinas pass gets tipped out of bounds by a Bronc, giving Kingsville a fresh shot clock. Now it's their turn to use up a 30-second timeout. My guess is they take the shot clock down to ten before starting their offense in an attempt to deny the Broncs adequate time to respond before half-time.

7:50 - I was wrong - a quick three by Mitchell and the Broncs get 26 seconds to play with. They take advantage as Winfrey hits a three-pointer from the top of the key from NBA range to make the score 34-29 Javelinas at half-time. Each team committed seven fouls during the half. More numbers to come soon.

7:52 - They just put 20 minutes on the clock for half-time. Isn't half-time 15 minutes? It hasn't been that long since I've seen a college basketball game...

7:54 - I just spotted Tamara Vaughn in the stands. The former Broncs are out in force today.

7:59 - The band just finished playing "YMCA" and "Free Ride."

8:00 - The band is now playing "Hey Baby." I have mixed feelings about this. I went to Boston University and our pep-band used this song as our victory song. It was played after every win and there was nothing like hanging around to sing it with the band. It always feels awkward to hear it at a different point during the game. During the women's basketball America East Championship Games in 2006 and 2008 at Hartford, the Hartford and BU bands combined on a rendition of "Hey Baby" and it just didn't feel right (especially since Hartford was up by quite a bit each time).

8:04 - There's still 7:36 on the half-time clock, but here come the Broncs. I still insist there should only be 2:36 left on that clock.

8:05 - The Javelinas return to the court with 6:00 left on the clock (instead of 1:00 like it should be).

8:11 - Half-time is finally over. I hope the longer half-time had something to do with the fact it's an exhibition, even though they didn't do this last year. Even with the longer half-time, though, I still didn't get stats. I promise final stats will be posted at the end of the game.

8:12 - We're back underway and it's Kingsville basketball moving right to left, The Broncs are moving left to right. Franklin (who else?) starts things off with a quick lay-up.

8:13 - The Broncs just committed a shot clock violation without getting a shot off on their first possession.
-They move faster the second time as Ben Erlingsdottir hits a three-pointer.

8:14 - Franklin just hit another three and Ben Erlingsdottir responds again, this time with a lay-up.

8:15 - They just announced that there is to be no flash
-Andrea Garza makes her first appearance of the game, replacing Grigsby as the Broncs go to a small set. Schneider and Jean both ahve the size to play as the other forward and Jean was a forward last year. Just as I type that Jean blocks a three-point attempt.

8:16 - Jessica Walker makes her first appearance, replacing Schneider.
-The Broncs appear to be trying Garza as a forward. She's 5-11, so why not?

8:17 - Awkward moment. Demery was about to come into the game, but was told to stay by the ref because she was too late. Then the PA announcer started saying "coming in for the Broncs..." so the ref conceded and let Demery replace Ben Erlingsdottir.

8:18 - We hit our first media timeout of the half with 15:22 remaining and the Javelinas up 39-34. They've led throughout the entire game. Kingsville is up to 17 turnovers while the Broncs are at 15.

8:20 - An incredible non-call just now. Demery muscled her way around three defenders and was thrown to the ground while attempting to put a shot from underneath the basket. No whistle. The ball rolled out of bounds and was given to Kingsville. That would've even been a penalty in hockey...

8:21 - Walker just hit a three and five seconds later (if that) Jean steals a pass and hits a jumper to tie the score for the first time tonight. It's 39-39 with a little more than 14 minutes left.

8:22 - The Broncs just forced another turnover on the ensuing position, but Smith missed a three-pointer. On the other end Franklin actually missed a three, but the Broncs couldn't take advantage.

8:23 - Jean just came up with another block, this time stopping Franklin from getting a lay-up. The intensity of the Broncs since the last media timeout is exceptional.
-Garrett, Danielle Kostacky and Shavon Walker are into the game. They're out there with Smith and Jessica Walker.

8:26 - We've reached our second media timeout of the half with 11:47 left and the score still tied 39-39.

8:28 - Off the timeout the inbound pass goes to Kostacky who hits a three from the left wing to give the Broncs their first lead of the night.
-A pair of free throws by Hill just made it a one-point game.

8:30 - Sutton heads to the line and hits a pair of free throws to give Kingsville the lead back with 10:40 left.
-Jean replaces Walker.

8:31 - 9:33 to go and we get our first jump ball of the game, possession arrow favors the Broncs.
-Demery replaces Garrett

8:32 - Kostacky just hit a lay-up to give the Broncs the lead back
-Mitchell hits a three to give the lead back to Kingsville.

8:33 - With 8:51 left and Kingsville up 46-45, Jean just went down. Garza will replace her. She's holding her head. There was a collision between her and Soza, who was shaken up, but okay.

8:34 - Jean is helped up and gets a big round of applause as she walks off under her own power and takes a seat on the bench.

8:35 - LeKeisha Jones his a short-range two-pointer to give the Javelinas a three-point lead.

8:36 - Another shot clock violation for the Broncs as Smith's desperation three at the buzzer falls short. That leads us to our third media timeout with 7:52 remaining and Kingsville up 48-45.
-The Broncs currently have 22 rebounds (11 offensive) while the Javelinas have 23 (eight offensive). After going 9-14 from behind the arc in the first half, the Javs are now just 2-8. The Broncs were 4-8 in the first frame and are 4-7 in the second half.

8:39 - Another travel by the Javelinas negates what would have been a good two-point basket.
-Demery with a driving lay-up makes it a one-point game.

8:40 - Mitchell just missed the front end of a one and one. The Javs got the rebound but turned it over.

8:41 - Franklin just hit a foul line jumper. Is there anywhere she can't hit a shot from?

8:42 - Demery just hit connected from the left elbow to get the Broncs within one again.
-Jones responds with a long two from the right corner.
-Hill picked up a steal and had a one on one break but missed the lay-up.
-With 4:54 to go Craft calls a 30-second timeout which extends into a media timeout. Kingsville leads 52-49. Right now all the pressure is on UTPA. Exhibition or not, Kingsville is a DII school and when you're a DI school, you're supposed to win these games. Kingsville is playing with house money. If they lose it's because they're supposed to. If they win? Party in the streets.

8:44 - Bullinger just hit a right-hand hook shot to make it a two possession game again.

8:45 - A missed three and an offensive rebound leads to a three-pointer by Soza. Kingsville head coach Scott Hyland pumped his fist while moving to his left and Kingsville's players exploded off the bench.
-We hit our final media time out with 3:58 left and Kingsville suddenly up 57-49. The Broncs were up 45-43 not too long ago, meaning it's a 12-6 run for Kingsville.

8:47 - Jones at the line shooting one and one, but she misses the front end and the Broncs get the rebound.

8:48 - Following a Kingsville foul, Hyland screams to his players - "hey! Just play good D! Make them earn it!"
-With 2:53 to go the Javelinas call a 30-second time out. It's still 57-49. I heard Hyland remind his players that there's still a lot of time left.

8:50 - Maybe Kingsville thought Hyland meant on the shot clock. Not so much. Shot clock violation. Broncs have the ball.
-Bullinger just picked up her fourth foul.

8:51 - Winfrey just tried a long three from the left wing, but hit off the side of the rim. Strong side rebound by Kingsville.
-1:51 to go, Soza at the line for one and one, but she misses the front end and the Broncs get the rebound.

8:52 - Garza just drained a two from the left side. It's a six-point game with 1:25 left.
-Kingsville tried to move too quickly on their next possession and committed a turnover in less than ten seconds.

8:53 - 53.3 seconds left and Smith drains a three from the right wing to bring the Broncs within three at 57-54. Craft calls for a 30-second timeout. The Broncs need a stop on the next defensive possession to get a chance to tie the game, possibly with the shot clock off.

8:54 - The Broncs are in a half-court 1-2-2 trap. Smith ends up fouling with 37.1 seconds left. Bullinger goes to the line for two shots (tenth foul on the Broncs) and hits only the first, but it's now a two possession game.

8:56 - The Broncs took a lot of time on their last possession. They eventually found a wide open three, but Smith missed it and the Javs got the rebound. Bullinger ran it across the court with 12 seconds left and was mysteriously not fouled. With 5.1 seconds left, Kingsville mysteriously called for a 30-second timeout.

8:57 - Kingsville's inbound pass was not stolen and they ran out the clock to walk away with a 58-54 victory.

Final Thoughts:
Quite an upset as DII Kingsville knocks off the Broncs. Maybe the game would have been played differently had it not been an exhibition (for example, a foul at the end), but who knows. The Broncs showed that they plan to live and die by the three again this year by looking for the three on their final possession rather than getting a quick two and then fouling. There was certainly enough time left on the clock to do that. On the other hand, the Broncs shot the three well tonight (9-19, 47.4%) while going just 13-37 (35.1%) from inside the arc.

I'm not sure if the game would have been played any differently had it not been an exhibition. On the one hand, since it's an exhibition you want to try things to see how they look in game situations and if they don't work it's not a big deal. On the other hand, you don't want to have a bad taste in your mouth entering the regular season.

I never know how much stock to take in these games. The men barely held off DII St. Edward's in a pre-season exhibition last year, and then went onto go 18-13 while almost beating Missouri State, Northwestern and UT-Arlington.

My advice to Broncs fans is to avoid hitting the panic button at this point. Kingsville may have shot 46.3% on paper, but the way the Broncs played defense at some points during the game, you get the feeling the Broncs are going to be holding opponents under 60 points often this season. I think 60 is going to be the magic number for UTPA this season.

The statistics:

Epiphany Smith
3-12 FG, 2-9 3PT, 5 reb, 2 PF, 8 pts, 7 assists, 2 TO, 1 stl, 37 min
Janita Session
1-2 FG, 1 reb (1 off), 2 PF, 2 pts, 1 assist, 11 min
Jessica Walker
1-4 FG, 1-1 3PT, 3 reb (1 off), 3 pts, 7 min
Marah Guzman
2 min
Andrea Garza
1-3 FG, 2 reb (2 off), 2 PF, 2 pts, 9 min
Danielle Kostacky
2-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, 2 reb, 2 PF, 6 pts, 1 TO, 9 min
Teshay Winfrey
2-3 FG, 2-3 3PT, 2 reb (1 off), 2 PF, 6 pts, 2 assists, 2 TO, 12 min
Robin Garrett
1-4 FG, 2 reb (2 off), 2 PF, 2 pts, 1 blk, 9 min
Rose Esther Jean
4-11 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2 reb (1 off), 1 PF, 8 pts, 2 assists, 3 TO, 2 blks, 1 stl, 26 min
Shavon Walker
0-1 FG, 2 reb (1 off), 1 PF, 1 TO, 9 min
Taylor Schneider
0-1 FG, 1 assist, 1 TO, 1 steal, 10 min
Maria Ben Erlingsdottir
4-5 FG, 2-2 3 PT, 2 reb (1 off), 2 PF, 10 pts, 3 assists, 6 TO, 19 min
Brittany Demery
3-6 FG, 4 reb (1 off), 1 PF, 6 pts, 1 assist, 1 TO, 20 min
Aleeya Grigsby
1-2 FT, 2 reb (2 off), 1 pt, 2 assists, 2 TO, 2 stls, 20 min

Totals
22-56 FG, 9-19 3PT, 1-2 FT, 29 reb (13 off), 17 PF, 54 pts, 19 assists, 21 TO, 3 blks, 5 stls, 200 min

FG% 1st Half 12-25 (48.0%) 2nd Half 10-31 (32.3%) Game 22-56 (39.3%)
3PT% 1st Half 4-8 (50.0%) 2nd Half 5-11 (45.5%) Game 9-19 (47.4%)
FT% 1st Half 1-2 (50.0%) 2nd Half 0-0 (–) Game 1-2 (50.0%)

Kingsville's important numbers:
Angela Franklin led all scorers with 17 points on 6-11 shooting (4-6 from behind the arc and 1-2 from the line). She also led her team with five turnovers and three steals.

As a team they shot 19-41 (46.3%), 12-23 (52.2%) from behind the arc and 8-13 (61.5%) from the line. The Javelinas shot better in the first half (11-19 (57.9%), 9-14 (64.3%) from behind the arc) than in the second half (8-22 (36.4%), 3-9 (33.3%) from behind the arc).

The Javelinas had 30 rebounds (10 offensive) and committed 23 turnovers while picking up 8 steals.

Guards, Guards Everywhere

2008-11-06T22:40:00.003-06:00

The UTPA women's basketball team has an 18 players on their roster this year, 17 of whom are eligible. I've looked over the roster and attended practice on Monday, but it took until today for me to realize just how many guards are on this team. Today there were no fewer than 13 guards participating in practice, eleven of whom are on the team.

Wait, what? Who were the other two? You might remember them – LeKeisha Gray and Tiona Wilson.

Both of them played out their final season of eligibility last year, and no, they have not found more. However, seeing as they're both still around, they are helping out in practice by showing all of these young guards how it's done.

This should be huge for a player like freshman Epiphany Smith, who could very well be taking the reigns from Gray and Wilson to run the point this year. Smith's shooting motion reminds me of Gray, especially when Smith hit a half court shot from the sideline at the buzzer on Monday. Like Gray, Smith is 5-4. If Smith is indeed running the point, the fact that she is both young and short will cause teams to test her early and often. This is where a mentor like Gray can really help Smith learn what to do in those cases. Even when Gray was dealing with significantly bigger teams like Texas, she was undeterred. The Broncs only had Gray for two years, but they have Smith for four. She has a lot of potential and it appears Coach Craft is doing whatever she can to get the most out of Smith.

Who joins Smith is in the backcourt is anyone's guess, though.

Rose Esther Jean is converting from a forward to a guard. I like this move. I always thought of Jean is a guard, and as Craft told me, now Jean will have favorable match ups instead of being undersized at the four.

Jessica Walker is also practicing with the guards, despite being listed as forward on the roster. Considering Walker's blinding speed and athleticism, this makes sense.

The rest of the cast:
Janita Session, Damarias Rodriguez, Sherrell Davis, Marah Guzman, Andrea Garza, Rachel Hester, Teshay Winfrey, Shavon Walker, Taylor Schneider and Randall Chavez.

We know Winfrey will play a big role as the returning player with the second highest three-point shooting percentage (.302 (19-63), behind Jessica Walker's .323 (10-31)). She also average 6.0 points per game in 16.0 minutes per game, suggesting that Winfrey can average double-digits scoring given the playing time.

Schneider and Session are the other returning guards. Schneider got more playing time down the stretch, but didn't get a huge chance to prove herself. There were times that she showed great floor vision, suggesting she could be an answer at the great void at point guard this season. As for Session, all we really know is that she's an aggressive player. She only played 93 minutes last year, though.

Hester transfered over from Elon College and is expected to help fill the void as far as peremiter shooters go.

The rest of them are really unknowns at this point, but if Craft spreads the weatlh like she did last year, with 12 players playing at least 208 minutes (and three more playing 59-93), they should all get a chance to show us what they can do.

We should get a better idea of who can do what on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. when the Broncs host Texas A&M-Kingsville in an exhibition game. I was expecting to be able to broadcast this game, but right now it is not looking good. We're not going to be on the radio this year. Broadcasts will be on the internet only. If you think that gives us the ability to put on more games, like this one, you're absolutely correct. Why aren't we? I don't have a good answer to that question right now.

I will make an attempt to do some live-blogging during the game. Hopefully I will be able to get internet access at the UTPA Fieldhouse. That also remains to be seen.

Events and the Men's Forward Rotation

2008-11-05T17:40:00.003-06:00

The UTPA basketball teams will be holding a pep-rally on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and "midnight" madness on Friday at 9:30 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

I'm not sure what the makeup of the pep-rally will be, but I know Friday's festivities will include a dunk contest and a scrimmage.

Both should be fun and are free events, open to the public.

I've been attending practices this week, and it's been fun to watch. The men's team has 15 players, all of whom are eligible, and 13 of whom are participating in full practices. Senior forward Julius Allgood is still working his way back from a torn right ACL that caused him to miss all of last season. It looks like he's in good shape, though. Once he's ready to return, it will complicate a very deep forward rotation.

The Broncs have seven forwards in Allgood, senior Emmanuel Jones, junior Nathan Hawkins, red-shirt sophomore Jacob Trader, red-shirt sophomore Matt Zaney, junior Luis Valera and freshman Andrew Smith.

Jones battled health issues issues last year while appearing in 22 games. He was the fifth on the team in scoring (9.3 points per game), third in rebounding (4.2 per game) and first in blocks with 17, 51.5% of the team's total. Jones was unstoppable on the inside, but don't be surprised if he steps out and shoots some threes this year too. He was originally a wing and likes to show off his range. On the other hand, Jones only attempts two three-pointers last year. It'll be interesting to see how he intergrates into the offense this year.

Hawkins is the leading returning scorer after placing fourth on the team last year with 10.6 points per game. He was also fourth in rebounding at 3.9 per game. Hawkins was slowed by a knee injury early last year that really affected him for much of the season, despite his ability to play in all 31 games, starting 30 times. If that's behind him this year, Hawkins could be poised for a big season on the glass, where the Broncs will need him to bring some Windex.

Trader is in his third year with the program after red-shirting his freshman year. He only got 43 minutes of playing time last year, but hit four of his nine shots while picking up four rebounds (two offensive). Trader's best game came on January 16th vs Huston-Tillotson during which he played nine minutes and scored six points on 3-3 shooting. I think Trader has talent. I had the chance to see him in practice and shoot-around and as the season wore on, Trader only got better. Trader was fifth on the depth chart at forward last year. This year? It's tough to say at this point, but I have a feeling he'll get opportunities in the early going, along with the rest of the forwards not named Jones and Hawkins. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top. The key for Trader? Simple – he has to be himself. His brother, Zach, was a co-captain and the top forward on the team last year. They're two different people, though, and I think everyone needs to remember that.

Zaney has the chance to be quite a wild card. He transfered from UT-Permian Basin (DII) after his freshman year and had to red-shirt last season. Zaney's numbers weren't anything to write home about at UTPB, but my eyes tell me he has a chance to make a big impact. I was always impressed with Zaney when I watched him practice last year. He has the size and athleticism to be effective and among the Broncs' top rebounders.

Valera joins the team after playing at Marshalltown Community College. In 29 games last season, the 6-7 225 pound Guama Yaracuy, Venezuela, native averaged 9.897 points per game while draing shots at a .537 clip. Valera was 71-94 (.755) from the free throw line and led the team, by far, with 6.828 rebounds per game (82 offensive, 116 defensive). The Broncs' biggest weakness last year was probably rebounding. If Valera can clean the boards at the Division One level as effectively as he did in Junior College, he should see immediate playing time.

The biggest player on the team is Smith at 6-9, 250 pounds. He was a Wisconsin high school basketball all-star at South Milwaukee H.S. He also led his team to a conference championship and was named captain for his senior season. Smith scored more than 1,000 points during his career. He's 18 years old, but has quite a resume. His size can be an asset as long as he's aggressive. This is one player who can create all sorts of match up problems during the Independent and non-DI portions of the schedule.

It's too early to tell who will round out the forward rotation, but with all of these options, it will be interesting to see how big that rotation is. Last year the rotation was usually three or four deep with Zach Trader and Hawkins starting while Jones and Ryan Buck came off the bench. Both Jones and Buck had health issues during the season, so it was often a three-man rotation. I'm guessing the rotation won't be more than four deep once it is all sorted out, but that's okay, it will force the players to push each other to get better as they compete for playing time.

The Ring

2008-11-04T15:31:00.009-06:00

Yesterday I received my UTPA men's basketball 2008 Independent Championship ring. Here's what it looks like:

This is the top view. On the left it says "INDEPENDENT" from top to bottom. On the right it says "CHAMPIONS" from top to bottom.

This side of the ring has my last name on top of two people playing basketball. On the bottom it says "RADIO."

Underneath "UTPA" on the left, it says "94x50" (the size of a basketball court). Coach Schuberth uses this slogan to remind his players that it doesn't matter where the game is taking place. The court is the same size everywhere and the four most important letters are "UTPA."

Getting this ring made my day. I don't imagine too many pundits gave the Broncs much of a chance of even finishing .500 last year, much less getting rings. It just tells you something about the makeup of the players and coaches.

As Michael Jordan once said, "some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."

"Let's Play Two!"

2008-10-28T15:14:00.001-05:00

-Ernie Banks, Baseball Hall of Famer – Chicago Cubs

Good news for anyone heading to Chicago on February 28th or planning to listen to both the men's and women's basketball games at Chicago State. Someone realized that both UTPA teams are playing there that day and that there is little logic in a split admission doubleheader. The men's game has been moved up from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00. The women's game will still be at 2:00.

Coverage will probably begin at 1:45 p.m. Often when a team lists a game time on the hour they actually mean five minutes after the hour. Last year Chicago State started on the hour, though. Assuming nothing has changed, we'll be ready this year.

It sounds like we'll have a little more time between games than doubleheaders we're used to, so expect some excellent interview segments. I am not yet certain whether or not I will be heading to the women's National Independent Tournament. If not (and perhaps even if I am), I will try to use the time between games to get seniors Robin Garrett, Danielle Kostacky, Jessica Walker and Teshay Winfrey on the air.

I suppose it's a little early to be thinking about all that right now. I'm still waiting for official word on our broadcast arrangements for the season. The last I heard is that there are talks being conducted with BMP Radio (the cluster than includes ESPN 1240 AM, which we have been on for the past eight years). Hopefully everything will work out well on that front.

I am also quite confident that we will renew our agreement with audiosportsonline.net.

Once broadcast details are available I will post them here along with a complete basketball broadcast schedule. The baseball broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.

Madness Anyone?

2008-10-17T17:23:00.000-05:00

In less than an hour the NCAA will allow all those non-Kentucky and Illinois teams (who started last week thanks to a loophole) to start practicing. This is, of course, significant because that means the season is really approaching. You can almost hear the dribble of the basketball or the high-pitched squeak of a sneaker turning on the court.

If you can't wait (I know I can't), head to Midnight Madness tonight at the UTPA Fieldhouse. I assume they're holding it. Truthfully, I have no idea since there's no mention on the website, but I heard they did it last year.

Of course, the Broncs don't have to wait until midnight anymore. A few years ago, the NCAA decided to move up the first practice time from midnight to 7:00 p.m. and there are some (many?) teams that just can't wait.

Dana O'Neil enlightens us to the history of midnight madness here. It's a good read, so I'll wait while you do. Then come back to finish reading this.

Now it's time for me to climb to the top of my soap box. We're itching for action. It's been months since the National Championship ended. Is there anything more fun than Midnight Madness? It's like New Year's Eve at Times Square. Hundreds or thousands of fans, mostly exuberant students (even if it's aided by other reasons), counting down the seconds to midnight at which point their teams burst through the locker room doors and onto the court. It's absolute euphoria.

Who's counting down to 7:00 p.m.? Anybody? Or maybe the event starts at 7:30 ET, like at Kansas. Do they count down to 7:30? Heck, will anyone even be there? How anti-climactic. How boring.

Wake up and smell the... um... "coffee" (and whatever might be in it). It's Friday night. You're a college student. An event at midnight? Sounds awesome. An event at 7:00 p.m.? Some people will come dressed up because they're getting ready to go out. Others will skip it so they have time to eat dinner and get dressed and do whatever "pre-game" things they choose to do.

When I was at Boston University, there was nothing like Midnight Mania, the men's ice hockey team's first practice. They moved it to 6:00 p.m. for my junior year. The building was empty, the event was lackluster, and there was just no energy. It was a waste of my time.

They learned their lesson. My senior year contained the return of Midnight Mania. The place was packed an hour before the event started and everyone was delirious with anticipation.

Last year BU held Midnight Madness for the basketball teams for the first time in a few years, and it was just as successful as Midnight Mania was the year before. I made the trip up to Boston just for the basketball event, and it was worth it. This year they will hold it next Friday. It will start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 9:30. I'm going (it happens to be during alumni weekend), but I'm not expecting it to be as good as last year's event. If that's what I think as an alum, what will the students think?

I wish all schools would go back to holding a standard Midnight Madness, and I call upon the NCAA to move back the start time of the first practice to midnight to force the issue.

Climbing the Spring Hill

2008-10-07T13:43:00.001-05:00

It is confirmed – the Broncs will not have an opportunity to play Southern Mississippi in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic this year. UTPA will play Spring Hill (NAIA) on day two, even if the Broncs beat Weber State on day one and Spring Hill upsets Southern Mississippi.

This means the Broncs will play the NCAA minimum of 25 DI contests while playing two NAIA schools.

This will be the third "tournament" since last year in which the Broncs played a DI opponent in game one and a non-DI in game two while not playing the host school. (Missouri State last year and Air Force in November). The difference is that both times the Broncs went back to those schools for a game. This time, no such luck.

Why would Southern Mississippi schedule definite opponents? A look at last year's RPI:
Southern Mississippi - 105
Weber State - 196
UTPA - 276

As a member of Conference USA, Southern Miss. has an incredibly tough path to post-season basketball. They lost in a conference semi-final game to national runner-up Memphis last year and did not get an at-large bid to the NIT or CBI. When given a choice, Southern Miss needs to play teams with higher RPIs in an attempt to strengthen their bid for an at-large spot.

Seems like a plausible explanation, right? Not so much. If they wanted to play teams with higher RPI, they would play both UTPA and Weber State because taking on an NAIA team certainly does nothing to help RPI, which only includes DI games. Also, since we know the selection committee is human, we know a loss to an NAIA team would end any chance of an at-large bid. So why take the risk?

The only non-conference games that can help Southern Miss. are games against Miami, UConn, New Mexico, Kansas State and Mississippi.

So again, what's the deal here?

It is possible that Coach Schuberth volunteered to play Spring Hill on day two. Schuberth has shown a willingness to play non-DI teams during his tenure.

It is possible that USM told UTPA that they can only come if they agree to play Spring Hill on day two.

Either way, it is incredible that even in a year in which the Broncs are the defending Independent champions they can't climb that hill to get on the schedules of other teams. Perhaps they still need that "signature win" against a big name school (whether they be good or not, just as long as it's a name that causes pause).

Some schools try to schedule non-high major conference champions so they can play a team that was the best among its immediate peers. Wouldn't playing UTPA be the same concept? Also, if the schools actually travel to UTPA, they get to enjoy the sun and 70 degree temperatures during the winter.

When things like this happen I wonder if the host school is likening UTPA to a non-DI. If so, that's disgusting. The Broncs have proven they can compete with just about anyone. Why not give them some respect?

Tournament Updates

2008-10-06T21:51:00.001-05:00

In my last post, I reported the Spring Hill (NAIA) is the fourth team in the field for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic at Southern Mississippi in last December. Someone might want to tell them, though.

ESPN confirms the game on the 22nd, but the school's website has Spring Hill at Southern University at New Orleans on the 22nd, off on the 23rd, and then home against William Carey on the 24th.

Expanding on the question of whether or not the Broncs are guaranteed to play Spring Hill, Weber State's website, like Southern Mississippi's, lists definite opponents for both games. UTPA has the opponent listed as TBD.

I have an e-mail out to the Sports Information Director at Southern Miss. Once I have an answer I will let you know and add some analysis.

---

There's one other change in the schedule. When the Broncs take part in the 6th Man Club Tournament at Montana State University December 28th and 29th, they will have a chance to play fellow Independent and future Great West Conference Member Utah Valley University on day two. The original information I found indicated that Arkansas Pine-Bluff would be the fourth team besides UTPA, MSU and Norfolk State. That is no longer the case.

Also, the game time listed on MSU's site for their first game is 7:30 p.m. MT (8:30 CT). That suggests that UTPA's first round game against Norfolk State will be at 6:00 p.m. CT. The game times should be the same on day two.

Men's Basketball Schedule Released

2008-10-02T13:13:00.007-05:00

The day has finally arrived. The UTPA men's basketball schedule is out.

You'll notice a a lot of opponents listed as TBD. Luckily for you, I already bothered to find out who those opponents are in the initial schedule post. The only missing team was the final team in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic at Southern Mississippi on December 22nd and 23rd. Spring Hill (NAIA) joins the field with Weber State. The interesting thing, though, is that So. Miss. lists Weber State as their opponent for the second day of the tournament. It is possible that, like the Air Force Classic this year and the Missouri State Classic last year, this is not a true tournament (something about the word "classic"). The difference, though, is that UTPA had both Air Force and Missouri State on their schedule later in the year. That is not the case with Southern Mississippi, so stay tuned. For the record, So. Miss. lists both of their games as 7:30 p.m., meaning UTPA would likely be playing in an earlier game, probably at 5:00.

Other discrepencies:
The UTPA schedule has the Broncs playing at UNLV at 8:00 p.m. CT. According to UNLV's website, the game is at 7:00 p.m. PT, meaning 9:00 p.m. CT.

The games at Air Force are listed as at Colorado Springs, CO. The Air Force Academy actually has its own zip code. It is 17.4 miles north of Colorado Springs.

The UTPA schedule has the Broncs hosting Texas A&M International on November 25th at a time to be announced (though you figure a Tuesday game has to be at 7:05 p.m.) while the TAMIU schedule has the match up taking place on February 4th (though they list games at both 4:30 and 7:00 as if there was going to be a doubleheader). The UTPA schedule does not have a game listed on February 4th.

The times for the Air Force Tournament are listed as 2:30 p.m. CT on the UTPA site. Wofford, UTPA's first round opponent, lists the first game at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 CT). The Air Force site lists game two on both days as being at 5:00 p.m. MT (6:00 CT). The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs website lists the November 23rd game against UTPA as being at 2:30 MT (3:30 CT).

The Drake Tournament has changed (and UTPA's site accurately reflects this). UTPA will now be playing Furman in the first round and either Drake or North Carolina Central in the second round. This makes more sense for UTPA they already have NCC on the schedule twice later in the year. Drake probably doesn't care too much since, either way, on paper anyway, they are the clear favorites in this tournament. Last year's RPI:
Drake - 12
UTPA - 276
NCC - 279
Furman - 303

The Broncs are scheduled to host Dallas Baptist on January 10th at 7:00 p.m. The women's basketball team is scheduled to host Utah Valley University at the same time. Oops! I guess one of them will play at 4:30 and it will turn into a doubleheader.

With the exception of the missing times for road games (many of which I had posted), everything else seems to be in order.

The five games missing from my initial schedule projection:
Saturday, November 15th (my birthday) vs Sul Ross State (DIII) - 3:05 p.m.
Friday, January 2nd @ UTEP - 9:05 p.m.
Monday, January 5th vs Huston-Tillotson (NAIA) - 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, January 10th vs Dallas Baptist (DII) - 7:05 p.m.
Monday, February 2nd vs Savannah State - 7:05 p.m.

Games - 31
Home - 11
Road - 10-14
Neutral - 6-10
DI - 25-26
DII - 3
DIII - 1
NAIA - 1-2

Last year the Broncs played 10 home games, so they got one more this year while continuing to play a large number of road games and tournaments. They Broncs play 25 or 26 DI games and five or six non-DI games after playing 26 DI games and five non-DI games last year. They were 13-13 in DI games last year and 5-0 in non-DI games.

Men's Basketball Schedule Update

2008-09-29T17:10:00.001-05:00

In my projection of the UTPA men's basketball schedule, I mentioned some of the Broncs' options to fill out the schedule. Some of those games are now off the board.

Alabama filled their spot with a home game against Georgia Tech on January 3rd.

San Diego will host Academy of Art University on December 19th.

Georgetown will host Jacksonville on November 17th.

Richmond will host Randolph-Macon on November 15th.

Kent State filled out their schedule.

That leaves the following for the four games that are unaccounted for (not including Savannah State):
@ Seton Hall - 12/9 at the Prudential Center - 6:05 p.m.
@ Davidson - 11/14, 12/1, 12/2 or 12/3
@ Cal State-Northridge - includes return game next year - 12/20, 1/9 or 1/10
Saint Mary's College of CA - needs two games

Seton Hall is still almost certainly out of the question because that is during finals. But the Broncs could open their season at Davidson on 11/14, go to Cal State-Northridge on January 10th, and then schedule a home and home with Saint Mary's, assuming all of those games are still available. If you add those four to the Savannah State game and the Broncs schedule will be complete.

For all we know, of course, there are other available games that are not posted publicly. The Broncs schedule could also already be complete and we just don't know it. Hopefully our thirst for knowledge will be quenched soon.

Women's Basketball Schedule

2008-09-25T01:57:00.003-05:00

UTPA finally released the women's basketball schedule today.

My initial thoughts are:
•I think the 11/8 game on Texas A&M - Kingsville is an exhibition. Otherwise the Broncs have a 32-game schedule and I don't think non-exhibition games are allowed to start before November 14th anyway. I don't know why it's not listed as an exhibition, though.

•Like the men's team, these Broncs will make two trips to Air Force, once for a single game and once for a tournament. Here's the information for the Air Force Classic not listed on UTPA's website:
12/5 - Air Force vs North Carolina Central - 6:00 p.m. CT
Miami-Ohio vs UTPA - 8:30 p.m.
12/6 - Consolation Game - 3:00 p.m.
Championship Game - 5:30 p.m.

Unlike the men's tournament, it appears the women will have a chance to play Air Force twice.

•The Broncs return to Baylor but not to Texas this year.

•It appears the Broncs will play Division III Schreiner again this year, but I'm not sure where. The schedule says "at Schreiner" but lists the venue as the UTPA Fieldhouse. I can't imagine it's a road game, so it's safe to assume it's in Edinburg.

•These Broncs are playing Cal-State Bakersfield at least twice, unlike the men's team, who is not playing CSUB at all.

•The Broncs' game at NJIT on 1/24 will take place in Newark, NJ, not Trenton, NJ, as the UTPA website states. That's a difference of 58.5 miles, or about an hour and six minutes driving time.

•Speaking of New Jersey, the Broncs actually make two trips there this year. Rider is actually near Trenton and about 48.3 miles southwest of Newark. Rider is a solid mid-major opponent for UTPA, but it's certainly no guarantee game. That likely means Rider will visit the UTPA Fieldhouse during the 09-10 season. Which makes it a good move.

•The Battle at the Border Tournament has some solid teams as always. For the second time in three years, an America East team will be in the mix as Albany (New York) makes the trip down. UMBC came down two years ago and proceeded to shock the world (or at least some folks in the northeast, especially Hartford, CT) by knocking off the top three seeds in their conference tournament en route to their first ever NCAA Tournament bid. Albany's had some talented young players the last two years, and now that those players are becoming upperclassmen, you start to wonder if this will become a trend. If so, perhaps Coach Craft will contiue being able to attract America East teams to the Valley.

•The Broncs get a nice California vacation in February. getting two days off to explore in between games at Long Beach State (2/14) and Cal-State Bakersfield (2/17).

•Utah Valley University will host the National Independent Tournament this year, like they did in 2007. Hopefully more than six teams will show up this year so there can be a true bracket and the scenarios will be less confusing.

Men's Basketball Schedule Projection

2008-09-21T01:36:00.007-05:00

The downtime between baseball and basketball season can be very boring, and I'm sure I'm not the only one going crazy waiting for the UTPA basketball schedules to be posted. I decided to do something about it, though. I started fishing on other teams' websites. I have been able to figure out about 84% of the schedule. What can I say? I believe in the power of Google.

All times listed are central.

Global Sports Classic Rounds One and Two (at campus locations)
@ UNLV - Tuesday, 11/18 - 9:00 p.m.
@ Cal - Thursday, 11/20 - TBA (probably 9:00 p.m.)

Reggie Minton Air Force Classic (at Air Force Academy in Colorado)
vs Wofford - Saturday, 11/22 - 3:30
vs University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Mountain Lions (DII) - Sunday, 11/23 - 3:30

Global Sports Classic Rounds Three & Four (in Las Vegas)
vs North Carolina A&T - Friday, 11/28 - TBA
vs Coastal Carolina/Western Illinois - Saturday, 11/29 - TBA

Drake Iowa Realty Tournament (Des Moines, IA)
vs North Carolina Central - Friday, 12/5 - 5:00 p.m.
vs Furman/Drake - Saturday, 12/6 - 5:00/7:30 p.m.

@ Air Force - Saturday, 12/13 - 4:00

vs UT-San Antonio - Thursday, 12/18 - TBA (probably 7:05 p.m.)

Southern Mississippi Tournament (Biloxi, MS)
vs Weber State - Monday, 12/22 - TBA
vs Southern Mississippi/Unknown - Tuesday, 12/23 - TBA

Montana State University Tournament (Bozeman, MT)
vs Norfolk State University - Sunday, 12/28 - TBA
vs Montana State University/Arkansas-Pine Bluff - Monday, 12/29 - TBA

vs UT-Arlington - Wednesday, 1/7 - 7:00 p.m.

@ North Carolina Central - Wednesday, 1/14 - 6:30 p.m.

@ UTSA - Wednesday, 1/21 - 7:00 p.m.

@ Auburn - Tuesday, 1/27 - 7:00 p.m.

vs Texas A&M International (DII) - Wednesday, 2/4 - 4:35/7:05 p.m.

vs Chicago State - Saturday, 2/7 - 7:00 p.m.

@ Longwood - Wednesday, 2/11 - 6:00 p.m.

vs Longwood - Saturday, 2/14 - 7:00 p.m.

vs NC Central - Saturday, 2/21 - 7:05 p.m.

vs NJIT - Monday, 2/23 - 7:05 p.m.

@ Chicago State - Saturday, 2/28 - 7:05 p.m.

@ NJIT - Monday, 3/2 - 6:00 p.m.

Confirmed Games - 26
Home - 7
Road - 9-13
Neutral - 6-10
DI - 24
DII - 2

Open Dates:
Friday 11/14 or Saturday 11/15
Saturday 1/3
Saturday 1/10
Saturday 1/24
Saturday 1/31
Wednesday 2/18

The Broncs can play 29-31 games depending on whether or not they have an exemption tournament. Last year the Broncs were able to play 31 games and I'm guessing they'll be able to do the same this year.

It appears the Broncs have five openings left. Here are some of their options to fill out their schedule:

@ Alabama - Guarantee of at least 70 thousand dollars on 12/31, 1/2 or 1/3
@ San Diego Home and home series starting in San Diego on 12/20
@ Seton Hall - 12/9 at the Prudential Center - 6:05 p.m.
Georgetown - 11/14 "Could start on the road"
Richmond - 11/14 or 11/15
@ Davidson - 11/14, 12/1, 12/2 or 12/3
@ Cal State-Northridge - include return game next year - 12/20, 1/9 or 1/10
Kent State University - Looking to start multi-year home/home - willing to start on road
Saint Mary's College of CA - needs two games

Needless to say, if Georgetown is willing to open the season at the UTPA Fieldhouse, Coach Schuberth needs to jump all over that. It would likely result in a return trip to Georgetown next year, which would be fun. The key thing is the ability to bring in a high quality opponent. You know this would lead to a sellout, not to mention ridiculous media coverage. The Broncs would also be wise to do something where if you want to buy a ticket to the game, you have to buy a ticket to at least one other game, maybe two.

Alabama was a fun trip last year. The game wasn't as close as the 75-65 score indicated, but the money sounds good, so if they're willing to host the Broncs again, why not?

Seton Hall would give the Broncs an opportunity to play the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey again. They beat NJIT there in January. When the Broncs go back to NJIT, I'm not sure if they'll be playing at "the Pru" again, but if they do, this could be a nice warm up.

Who wouldn't want to play Davidson after their magical run through the NCAA Tournament last year (which I accurately predicted, by the way)?

I am sure San Diego, Cal-State Northridge and Kent State would all catch Schuberth's eye because of the promise of a return game next year, whether that means an extra home game this year or next.

Saint Mary's had a great run last year and since they need two games on their schedule, it is possible Schuberth could turn this into one home game and one road game.

If it was up to me and it was as simple as picking and choosing (which it is not since there are contract negotiations, scheduling conflicts and there's always a chance that some of these teams have already filled their holes), here are the games I would try to get:

11/14 Georgetown - at home if possible. It is more likely that they would make the Broncs start on the road, but if that's the case, it becomes a guarantee game and the program can make some money. If Georgetown comes, try to make it a two-year deal with a return game next year.

12/1 @ Davidson - again, try to get a return game for next year. It's not as likely given that Davidson lost a home game at the end of August and are simply trying to replace it. Since that's the case, that might also mean Davidson won't be willing to offer any type of money. If both of of those are the case, that could prevent this match up from occurring.

1/3 @ Alabama - earn some money for the program, and maybe the second time around the Broncs will be able to pull off an upset.

Date TBA vs St. Mary's College of CA/Kent State University - preferably St. Mary's even though they lost to Kent State in ESPNU Bracketbusters last season.

Date TBA vs Savannah State - remember, the Broncs signed a contract with Savannah State to guarantee a return game this year, so we know the Tigers will becoming to town at some point.

I don't know what dates St. Mary's and Kent State have open, but those are teams that made some noise last year and didn't not rule out starting a two year series on the road. The Broncs could use some home games, and those are some quality opponents. The Broncs would visit both teams next year.

Of course, my proposed schedule isn't without flaws. If Georgetown agrees to play, but only if the Broncs go on the road, then the Broncs wouldn't have a home game until January 7th (depending on what dates St. Mary's and Kent State could be scheduled).

The Davidson game would make the Broncs miss the first day and a half after Thanksgiving Break. With finals rapidly approaching, is that a great time for these student-athletes to be on the road? The same goes for a potential road game at Georgetown. They're already going to be spending a ton of time away from class in November. Can they afford anymore? The same problem would exist if you tried to put the Seton Hall game on the schedule. In fact, that would be worse because it would be in the middle of finals (12/6-12/12).

In order to alleviate the above problem, the Broncs could go to Cal State-Northridge on 1/10 (classes don't restart until 1/12) instead of going to Davidson.

I'm guessing the Broncs will open the season with a non-DI at home (unless Georgetown is willing to come).

So, for the five spots:

11/14 - Non-DI/Georgetown
1/3 - @ Alabama
1/10 - @ Cal-State Northridge
TBA - vs St. Mary's/Kent State
TBA - vs Savannah State

Finally, you might remember last year there was some talk of starting a men's National Independent Tournament. There is one, sort of. The University of North Dakota is hosting an Independent Tournament on March 7th and 8th, featuing the University of South Dakota, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and Seattle University. All four schools will be in their first season competing at the Division One level.

I am surprised UND is hosting a tournament without more independents, but what is more confusing is that, of the four, only UND and USD are currently slated to be in the Great West Conference next year. Why not invite other independents who will be joining them in a conference tournament next year. That includes UTPA, NJIT, Houston Baptist and Utah Valley University. Of course, it's possible all four teams were invited and they all turned down their invitations, but that doesn't seem likely.

In Memory of a Mentor

2008-09-14T20:31:00.012-05:00

About an hour ago I learned that my mentor, teacher and friend, Jack Falla, died after suffering a heart attack late last night/early this morning. Words cannot possibly even scratch the surface of how I feel right now or how much I will miss him.

Falla was my Sports Journalism and Sports Communication professor at Boston University during the spring of my junior (2006) and senior (2007) years respectively. He was a husband, a father and a grandfather. He taught and mentored more students than you or I could possibly imagine. I have never met anyone who had anything bad to say about Falla, probably because there was nothing bad to say.

He never gave up on anyone and always gave everyone a chance to succeed. That includes me. He taught his Sports Journalism class twice per week at 8:00 a.m. The idea was to weed out the uncomitted. I told him in advance I would need to miss three classes because I traveled with BU women's basketball to broadcast their games. He said that would be fine, but that I would need to make sure I didn't miss any additional classes. I told him I would not. I did not keep my end of the bargain. I had three additional absences. It was my own fault. I had way too much on my plate and it was a very trying semester for me. In addition to classes and the radio station, I was the Student Union Vice President. To make a long story short, I butted heads with the General Assembly and was censured. In fact, the student paper called for my impeachment. I was emotionally drained from dealing with it all and overslept a few times. After the third infraction, I went to Falla's office to apologize. I arrived at the College of Communication just as he was walking upstairs after class with a copy of the newspaper in his hand. My picture was on the front and there was probably a none-too-pleasant headline. He saw me come in and looked at me. I said, "I'm sorry." He didn't respond. That was probably the angriest I ever saw him. The funny thing is, he didn't look angry. I could just tell. I followed him back to his office and sat down. He reminded me of our deal, but he also knew what I was going through that semester. So he decided to modify the deal, saying only that I needed to make sure to "run the table" the rest of the way.

I know he thought I was a great writer, but the the big thing he instilled in me was the need for descriptions and stories. That not only helped me to improve my writing, but my broadcasting as well. I owe so much of my growth to Falla.

The Sports Communication class I took with Falla is a big reason I am with you today. He taught me how to write a press release and how to interact with the media. That helped me to get my first job as the Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting with the then-Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings in Harlingen. That job led me to talking with Alex Del-Barrio about how he was leaving UTPA to broadcast for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. That led me to calling UTPA. The next thing I knew was that I was the voice of the Broncs.

I have stayed in contact with Falla ever since graduation. I will miss trading e-mails with him and picking his brain. Falla was a top writer at Sports Illustrated. He was also the top PR guy for the NHL at one point. He wrote many books, including Saved, which I read during one of the road trips with the men's basketball team last year. Whether you like hockey or not, you will love the book. I honestly believe it is the best book I have ever read.

I am planning to visit Boston in October. I told Falla and he invited me to speak with one of his classes followed by lunch. I was hoping he would autograph the books that I own that he wrote. I have four of them in total, though I have not had a chance to read the other three yet. He just came out with a new book called Open Ice. If it is half as good as Saved, it will be another masterpiece.

I was so close with Falla that I actually called him at home once this summer. I was in the midst of a media relations crisis in Harlingen and I needed his advice. He helped me get through it. That was the last time I heard his voice. It was June 6th.

Every broadcast and blog post this season will be dedicated to the memory of Jack Falla. I realize you may not have known him, but he's a part of me. If you know me, you know him.

Adding Assists to the Pot

2008-05-04T13:54:00.000-05:00

The Broncs men's basketball team have added Reggie Cook to the roster for next season. Cook is left-handed shooting point guard with a three-point touch. Talk about exactly what the Broncs need after graduating four three-point shooting guards, including the floor general, Paul Stoll.

Nick Weiermiller was the only in-house candidate to take over the point guard position, so now the Broncs have a pre-season little competition brewing, which can only help. And let's be honest, they're both going to play plenty next year, so the Broncs will need both players to develop into Division One point guards, but now neither has as much pressure on him.

--

I realize it's been a while since I last posted. What can I say? I was on vacation. I'm back in the Valley now, over in Harlingen gearing up for United League Baseball season. I'm the Director of Media Relations/Broadcasting for the Harlingen WhiteWings.

The season begins on May 13th, and the home opener will be on May 20th against the Edinburg Coyotes. All tickets to the home opener are free, so make your way out to Harlingen Field for the 7:05 p.m. start. Gates open at 6:05, but tickets are on-sale now. Call (956) 412-WING (9464) for more information.

I don't know how active I'm going to be here during baseball season since there's so much work involved. If I can, I will post. However, don't be surprised if the blog goes into hibernation until the fall.

Candace over Candice, Big Time

2008-04-08T22:08:00.001-05:00

Ya know, LSU was one defensive stop from going to the National Championship instead. And if they had, Stanford still would have lost. Tennessee successfully defended their title with their eighth championship by dominating Stanford 64-48.

Stanford was never in this game. They never stood a chance. Tennessee took an early 15-7 lead and never looked back. I didn't think Tennessee had the fire power to beat Stanford, especially not with Candace Parker ailing, but she ended up with 17 points on 5-10 shooting with nine rebounds.

The shoulder injury was no longer affecting Parker, and with her at 100%, she was able to make Shannon Bobbitt (13 points) and Nicky Anosike (12 points, 8 rebounds) better (and open). Stanford's defense couldn't stop Tennessee man-to-man (woman-to-woman?). Tennessee's defense, however, was stifling with full court pressure, preventing Stanford from having enough time to setup their triangle offense. Candice Wiggins ended up with 14 points, but she never really seemed to be the same players she had been all tournament. She didn't get much help, except from Jayne Appel (16 points), but she seemed frustrated at times.

So congratulations to Tennessee. I should know better than to ever pick against Pat Summit.

--

I ended up 49/63 (.778), my best of any of the five post-season tournaments.

--

By the way, since Parker is clearly going to be the #1 over all pick, am I the only one thinking she's about to win a few more championships this year?

The next one will be in the Summer Olympics when she takes home the Gold Medal.

After that, though? How about a WNBA title with the Los Angeles Sparks? LA managed to get the #1 pick in-part thanks to the lottery, and in-part thanks to a 10-24 record last season (tied for worst in the league with Minnesota). That they get the top pick over expansion Atlanta is insane, but let's forget that for a moment.

Parker will not single-handedly make the Sparks back into contenders. HOWEVER, Los Angeles is getting Lisa Leslie back this year. She took last year off to have a baby. This year? She's back. And you know what that means. The best player in the WNBA is about to team up with the best rookie. They might have the best front court in the WNBA this season. If they spark together (pun very much intended), Parker might run out of fingers fast.

Flame On?

2008-04-08T14:18:00.002-05:00

The Olympic Torch is being met by protesters throughout the world. They're not protesting the Olympics, but the host-nation - China. The reasons are plentiful - human rights violations, the desire for a free Tibet. That's all politics that I do not plan to comment on. I think people have the right to protest and if they believe strongly in something they should.

The real question - is the method appropriate?

The Olympics are symbolic of world friendship. When I was younger I learned that the part of the idea was that all wars and conflicts should be put aside for the sake of the Olympics. I'm no longer so naive. It simply doesn't work that way. There's no such thing as an Olympics without politics. There hasn't been since Hitler's Olympics in 1936. Proof positive is Jesse Owens "single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy."

Other examples include 1972 - The Munich Massacre. Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian terrorists.

There was also the '72 USA-USSR Gold Medal basketball game. Don't tell me that a game with three different endings didn't have Cold War overtures dripping all over it.

1980 - The Miracle on Ice. This was more than just a hockey game. This was about lifting American spirit during the Cold War and beating the Soviets. Really, it had nothing to do with hockey. It was all politics. That doesn't mean I don't love watching it, though.

Remember, the Americans threatened to boycott the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow due to the December 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets responded by threatening to boycott the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The Soviets ended up coming to Lake Placid, but the United States led a group of 62 countries that did not go to Moscow. In 1984, the Soviets countered with a 14-country boycott of the summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Cold War politics. Simple as that.

I could probably dig out many more example of politics interfering with the Olympics. It's become a sad truth, and really, if the protesters do manage to put the flame out, it will be symbolic of that lack of world friendship that not even the Olympics can save.

Taking it a step further, it will be symbolic of what the Olympics really are - a chance for athletes all over the world to compete against each other and claim Nationalistic superiority by flying their flag a little higher or hearing their National Anthem played. It's not about nations coming together. There's no goodwill involved.

Maybe that's too cynical of a view, but did you hear that the Americans will not be dining with the rest of the athletes in Beijing due to dietary concerns. They want different food? Fine. They can bring it into the dining room, and eat with people from competing nations, can't they?

And what do you think will happen if it's North Korea vs South Korea in a martial arts gold medal bout. Don't you think there will be more on the line than just a medal?

Which brings me back to the first question - is the method [of protesting] appropriate?

When I first embarked on this post, I thought I would answer no. I thought I would say the Olympics aren't about politics, they're about nations coming together for fun and games. Sadly, after doing my research, I've realized that's a view that simply isn't true. IT SHOULD BE. But it's not. Politics has the ability to suck the life out of everything in its path, the Olympics included.

That means I am seemingly forced to conclude - yes, the method is appropriate, but only if the protest is of the Olympics being held in China. Protests of what China actually may or may not be doing should be kept separate from the Olympics.

I am forced to deliver a split-decision, though. The idea of the Olympics still burns on. Nations coming together regardless of politics or history. In that vein, every country should have an opportunity to host the Olympics if they can handle it. The Olympics aren't supposed to be about politics. They are, but they're not supposed to be. Therefore, the second half of my conclusion is that the method is inappropriate because it just further makes the Olympics about politics.

Maybe there's no way to get the Olympics back to what it once was, what it is meant to be. All I know is that no matter where the Olympics are held from now on, there will always be protests meeting the torch because there will always be someone, somewhere, that has something, justified or not, against that country.

What I'm saying is, I don't know what to think about the protests surrounding the flame. I just wish we lived in a world where protests weren't necessary.

Maybe one day we'll have world peace. Then the Olympics can truly be everything they're supposed to be and people will not be afraid to carry the torch, instead it will be greeted with celebration everywhere it goes.

That's what should happen. That's what will happen. One day. Hopefully in my lifetime.

Oh For the Love of a Free Throw!

2008-04-07T23:09:00.001-05:00

Now Memphis decides to miss some free throws? In the biggest game of their lives?

It was 62-58 Memphis with 1:15 to play. Robert Dozier and Chris Douglas-Roberts had each just hit a pair of free throws. Memphis was proving everyone wrong. Everyone who said they could shoot free throws. Memphis had been proving them wrong throughout the tournament. And then Roberts missed a free throw. 15 seconds later Darrell Arthur made it 62-60. 30 seconds later Roberts missed another free throw but Kansas failed to capitalize. 16 seconds left. Now the double-bonus. Two shots for Roberts, Memphis' best free throw shooter (71.4%). He missed them both. Robert Dozier ripped down the offensive board. Memphis just couldn't lose! Six seconds later Derrick Rose went to the line. He missed the first shot. FIVE-STRAIGHT MISSES! Rose hit the second one. Good thing, since Mario Chalmers hit a game-tying three pointer.

Brandon Rush hit a layup 30 seconds into overtime and Kansas led for the rest of the game, going on to win 75-68.

For the game, Memphis was 12-19 (63.2%) from the line. So if you subtract that final 1:15 of regulation, Memphis was 11-13 (84.6%). Kansas, meanwhile, was 14-15 (93.3%) for the game.

All that talent and they can't hit a free throw. I guarantee you if it had been Nick Weiermiller, Paul Stoll or Zach Trader at the line Memphis would have won. I could probably name a few more Broncs in this spot too.

Still, my congratulations to Kansas. They did what they had to.

--

Well, I finished 41/64 (.641) for the tournament, by far my lowest percentage yet.

Get Ready - Candice v. Candace

2008-04-06T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, Stanford rocked UConn 82-73 today. UConn was up 3-2 early and never lead again. The Cardinal proved that they are easily the best offensive team in the nation. No one can stop them. I only had UConn winning this game. I didn't think anybody would beat them again. UConn already took care of Stanford once this season, after all. Candice Wiggins really celebrated winning the Wade Trophy today with 25 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. UConn did not have an answer for Wiggins. She is the best player in the nation, no doubt about that.

Many would argue Wiggins isn't even the best player with her first name. Spelling aside, everyone's drooling over Tennessee's Candace Parker, proclaiming her the certain #1 pick in Wednesday's WNBA Draft. Well, not so fast. Parker had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the 47-46 esacpe over LSU (which I correctly picked), but offensively she just wasn't the same player. Sylvia Fowles did a great job of containing Parker.

Some will argue that I shouldn't be comparing Wiggins to Parker since Parker is playing hurt. I give her props for playing after dislocating left shoulder twice in the Elite 8, but Wiggins is better even when they're both healthy. I will say that Parker's injury question mark should be enough to put Wiggins ahead of Parker in everyone's minds, though I realize that won't happen.

Maybe Wiggins hoisting the Championship trophy on Monday night will do the trick. Stanford is going to win the title. It's going to be a high-scoring game, and Stanford has shown that favors them. I'd be more worried about the Cardinal if they were playing LSU since they were the best defensive team in the tournament, but their inability to hit free throws doomed them tonight and would have doomed them Monday.

On the 10-year anniversary of #16 Harvard knocking off #1 Stanford on Stanford's home court in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (the only time that has ever happened), Stanford will get the last laugh.

--

This makes me 1/2 for the Final Four and 49/62 overall.

Keep Cunningham Starting

2008-04-06T19:31:00.000-05:00

There's nothing more important in baseball than pitching. You hear it all the time - "you can never have enough pitching." It's certainly true, and when you can find a solid starting pitcher, you want to take advantage of that.

Evan Cunningham (0-1) got his first start for the Broncs today, and though he lost 5-2, he became the first pitcher to throw nine innings against the vaunted New Orleans offense this season. He also showed how strong he is, throwing 121 pitches while striking out eight. He even pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

The final line was 9 IP, 5R, 4ER, 11H, 1BB, 8K, but it was even better than that.

With two outs in the fifth inning, Jeff Lanning hit a grounder between third and short that Andrew Perez had to backhand from the outfield grass. The throw was a one-hopper to first and Lanning barely beat it. If Lanning is half a step slower or the throw gets there half a second sooner, the inning ends instead of two runs coming around to score.

The run in the seventh inning was unearned because the run scored with two outs, but an error was committed at the beginning of the inning that would have allowed the inning to end before a run scored.

So Cunningham could have just as easily allowed just two runs to one of the best hitting teams in the nation.

Cunningham also pitched the same number of innings that it took four different pitchers to do in each of the first two games of the series.

42 New Orleans batters got plate appearances in their 8-3 win on Friday. That number was 50 in their 11-2 win on Saturday. Cunningham faced just 37 batters.

Cunningham faced the minimum three batters in four innings (first, second, fourth and ninth). The other eight Broncs pitchers combined to do that once in the series, when Cody Cisper did it on Friday in the third inning.

Cunningham held New Orleans scoreless until there were two outs in the fifth. On Friday, UNO scored with two outs in the first. On Saturday they scored with no outs in the second.

Cunningham only got the chance to start because of A.J. Franco's sore shoulder, but after this outing, Cunningham deserves another chance to start. Head coach Willie Gawlik said before the game that Cunningham had been coming out of the bullpen all season because it gives the Broncs a chance to use him two or three times per week. Don't get me wrong, relievers have plenty of value, especially good ones, but you need someone to get you to that reliever and the Broncs have allowed 10+ runs 11 times this season.

The only way to avoid that is to get a quality start. Cunningham can provide that.

Team Concepts Rule Final Four

2008-04-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

The men's Final Four gave us two match ups of differing teams. You had the teams driven by star power in UCLA (Kevin Love) and UNC (Tyler Hansbrough). Then you had Memphis and Kansas. I'm not going to pretend they don't have stars, no matter what the media will have you believe. They have a lot of stars, and I don't care if Kansas didn't have anyone on the all-conference first team. That's just because the Big 12 is more stacked than, say, Conference USA. With that said, Memphis and Kansas are more team oriented. They distribute the ball and have seemingly endless options with which to beat you.

I correctly had Memphis over UCLA, and I was right that it wouldn't be as close as some expected.

I was wrong about UNC being able to beat Kansas, though, as the Jayhawks won 84-66. Kansas showed why it's important to have a lot of different options and a team concept rather than relying on the same people all the time. Every Kansas starter scored as the Jayhawks built a 40-12 lead during the first half, and while UNC did get as close as four later in the game, Kansas was always the team destined to win this game. When I initially picked UNC to not only beat Kansas, but win it all, I said you could go either way on the UNC-Kansas pick and not be wrong. Will, it turns out that if you chose UNC, you were wrong too. Maybe it was because UNC hadn't played a close game in a while. Once they were down by 28, UNC was probably done. It takes so much energy just to get within four, that UNC just ran out of gas too soon.

That leaves me 41/63 thus far for the tournament.

My new Championship pick - Memphis, and this game might not be close either. Memphis reminds me a lot of the Florida team that was untouchable in the tournament two years ago. Heck, they were dominant last year too. Memphis is a perfect team. They have the team concept and tons of stars. They should have been my pick from the beginning, but their horrific regular season free throw percentage scared me. Memphis has been money from the line during the tournament and I'm not about to pick against them again.

Televise WNIT

2008-04-05T19:25:00.000-05:00

Please.

Today Marquette crushed Michigan State in East Lansing, MI, 81-66, to win the WNIT Title. Marquette opened the game on a 23-2 run and never looked back.

It's not really a surprise since Marquette was probably the best team to be selected to the tournament. I know I initially picked Vermont over Marquette, but I also said Marquette probably should have been in the NCAA Tournament and they might win it all. I said might because I wasn't going to pick them, but I'm not surprised that they won it all.

I am a little surprised that Michigan State, who never had to play a road game in the tournament, couldn't make the final score closer, but after the opening minutes, it was a pretty even game.

It's a shame none of us got to watch it or any of the other games in the tournament.

The WNIT might have been the most balanced and competitive post-season tournament out there this year, but you would have never known it. Every year we seem to break new ground. You can now see the entire Men's NIT on ESPN. Even the CBI was on some Fox Sports Networks. Yet the WNIT still gets overlooked.

I realize there's only so much space on the programming schedule, so how about starting by televising the WNIT Final Four and Championship? See what kind of viewership you get and go from there in deciding whether or not to expand it.

There were a lot of great games in this tournament. I wish I could have seen them.

--

I ended up 33/48 (.688) for the WNIT, my lowest percentage yet.

Only in Baseball...

2008-04-05T12:35:00.001-05:00

...can you have team score their first four runs without a single RBI. Well, I guess you can do that in softball too. You certainly can't do that in any other sport, mostly because they don't have RBI.

In all seriousness, though, baseball is the only sport in which you're guaranteed to see something new every game. Every single game. It never fails. That's one of the many reasons why I love the sport so much.

In the Broncs 8-3 loss to New Orleans on Friday, New Orleans scored their first for runs with on an RBI. They scored on a wild pitch, a double-steal and a two-base (two-run) error.

Not bad, but I'll do you one better. Five batter came to bat in the top of the first. Three of them reached base. One of them didn't finish his at-bat. So what happened? Ryan Eden reached on an error, Mark McGonigle singled and Eden advanced to third. T. J. Baxter struck out. Then McGonigle got picked off. Johnny Giavotella walked. Broncs starter Cody Cisper threw a strike to Nick Schwaner. Then Cisper threw to first three times in a row. Third time was a charm and Giavotella became the second pickoff victim of the inning. Now that's a crazy inning.

Count UNO's Alan Harris among those who weren't thrilled that his two-run double in the fourth was changed to an error. Instead of a good game, in the box score, it looked like he did nothing, going 0-4 with three strikeouts. That's why you have to watch the games. After all, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics."

I'm sure Cody Cisper was thrilled, though. Instead of six runs, five earned, he only ends up allowing two earned runs in six innings. He had a 13.28 ERA entering the game. His ERA dropped to 10.94 afterwards. It would have been 11.96 if those three runs were earned. Ouch.

It's not all bad for Cisper. He struck out eight batters and now has 31 in 26.1 innings That's 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Impressive.

The Broncs look to pull even in the series when they send Matt Shepherd to the mound today. Don't be surprised if the Broncs hold the mighty Privateers (45 home runs this season) homerless again.

Tulsa in Three, See?

2008-04-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

Tulsa won the inaugural College Basketball Invitational with a 70-64 victory over Bradley in front of 8,455 Golden Hurricane Fans. After two one-sided games to start the championship series, we had a great game to end it.

In review, I would say the CBI worked out great. From the account I read (I was broadcasting the Broncs baseball game against New Orleans during the game), there was a true celebration following the Championship victory, unlike Ohio State's NIT victory. Tulsa was a team that appreciated having the ability to win a Championship and end the season with a win.

The CBI gave Tulsa, a team that got off to a slow start, a chance to truly rebound from that slow start. They play in Conference USA with Memphis and managed to reach the Championship Game, but never really stood a chance to get the automatic bid. As a mid-major that got off to a slow start and didn't have the most difficult of schedules, the NCAA and NIT selection committees overlooked Tulsa. But the Gazelle Group realized Tulsa deserved to be playing post-season ball.

Maybe if the NIT hadn't scaled back from 48 teams to 32 Tulsa would have gone to the NIT. Maybe there wouldn't have even been a CBI. I wonder if they got the idea because the NIT shrunk. Really, all the CBI did was give us the same number of post-season teams that we have had over the last few years. Maybe they chose some different teams, but the physical number was the same (113), and I'm okay with that. It's only 33.1% of all the teams out there.

The Women's NIT stayed at 48 teams. There was no women's CBI. That further fuels my hypothesis that the CBI was only created because the NIT scaled back.

I'm glad Tulsa got a chance to have that special feeling and to raise another banner. There are some teams that don't appreciate what it means to win any kind of championship and end the season with a win. For those that do, this tournament is for you.

--

By the way, since I picked the Championship correctly, I ended up being 11/14 (.786) for the tournament, slightly better than I did with the NIT.

NIT - Championship?

2008-04-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well, Ohio State beat UMass in a great game for the Men's National Invitational Tournament Championship. The final score was 92-85, but it was always close with a lot of back and forth action.

I ended up 23/31 (.742) for the tournament, which I guess is pretty good, but let's not forget how everything collapsed for my bracket in the Elite 8. I didn't pick a single Final Four team correctly and that percentage is helped by the fact that I revised my picks after mistakes.

All in all it was a pretty good tournament, and you might remember that I argued the tournament should continue to exist, despite many calling it the consolation tournament or 100 other things. I stand by that. But the important question - do the players and coaches?

Back in November I was talking to Ryan Buck about the new College Basketball Invitational and I asked him if he would want a CBI banner hanging in the UTPA Fieldhouse. Without hesitation he said, "yeah." Which suggests he'd love to have an NIT banner up there too. But does Ohio State care about that NIT banner?

When the game ended, it looked like any other game. Ohio State players gave each other some high fives before lining up for the hand shake. They didn't rush the court, jumping up and down. They didn't scream or give each other hugs. It was just like any other win. I find it hard to believe that's how they would have reacted if they'd won the NCAA Tournament last year (or this year for that matter).

In my first NIT blog, I talked about how Boston University made it there in 2004 and it seemed like they didn't want to be there during their first round exit. Well, Ohio State played to win, but did they actually care about the Championship? I'm not sure. From my view watching on ESPN, it sure didn't seem that way.

If the Broncs, heck, if UMass had won it all, I'm willing to bet they would have been piling on top of each other in a giant display of emotion. I could hear UMass fans chanting during the game. Apparently about 3,500 students bussed down from Amherst, MA. There was no mention of Ohio State fans. If they were there, I sure couldn't hear them.

Look, if you get picked for the NIT, you don't have to go. If your team feels slighted that they didn't get picked for the NCAA Tournament and they don't care about the NIT, decline the invitation and stay home. Leave room for the teams that care to be there.

Pick Tracker #16

2008-04-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

Finally Colorado stopped proving me wrong! THANK YOU MARQUETTE!

Women's NIT:
Final Four - 1/2 on Wednesday, 1/2 for the round and 32/47 overall.
Mistake - Michigan State beat North Carolina State 58-57. Sharnise Beal did her best down the stretch for NC State, score all six of her points in the final 6:16. The first layup tied the game at 48. A pair of free throws later brought them to within 54-53 and a jumper with :33 left gave NC State a 57-56 lead. Then after Kalisha Keane missed a layup with :13 left, Allyssa DeHaan followed with a rebound and a put-back to make it 58-57. Choose your hero since Cetera Washington then came up with a huge steal, though after missing the front end of a one and one, Shayla Fields missed a two-point jump shot at the buzzer. This game was almost always close. Michigan State opened on a 9-1 run and led 17-10 in the opening nine minutes, thanks in part to an adrenaline rush from the home crowd, but it was never a three possession game again.
Outlook - I have my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship, even though the game will be played at Michigan State.
Next Up - The Championship game is on Saturday.

CBI:
Championship Series - Bradley won on Wednesday, so to game three we go!. 10/13 overall.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact. I picked them to win in three, figuring the home team would win every games. So far, so good.
Next Up - Game three will be in Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NIT:
Final Four - 2/2 on Tuesday, 2/2 total for the round and 23/30 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. Under my revised picks following the Elite 8, I have UMass over Ohio State for the title.
Next Up - The Championship will be on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. Catch it on ESPN.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 2/4 total for the round, and 40/61 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion (UNC) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four begins on Saturday at 5:07 p.m. as Memphis takes on UCLA. UNC-Kansas will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of that game. Catch it all on CBS.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 2/2 on Tuesday, 2/4 total for the round, and 48/60 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Championship (UConn over Tennessee) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four begins on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT as UConn faces Stanford (UConn beat Stanford 66-54 earlier this year). 30 minutes after that game will be Tennessee against LSU. Catch it all on ESPN.

Pick Tracker #15

2008-04-01T22:38:00.001-05:00

Candance Parker dislocated her left shoulder. Tennessee still won 53-45. Rutgers led 29-15 with 4:31 to play in the first half, but UConn still won 66-56.

UMass trailed big to Florida, but the Minutemen did exactly what I said they would do.

Major props to Mississippi. Down 44-20 to Ohio State at half-time, they made a spirited second half run before falling 81-69.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 2/2 on Tuesday, 2/4 total for the round, and 48/60 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Championship (UConn over Tennessee) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four begins on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT as UConn faces Stanford (UConn beat Stanford 66-54 earlier this year). 30 minutes after that game will be Tennessee against LSU. Catch it all on ESPN.

Men's NIT:
Final Four - 2/2 on Tuesday, 2/2 total for the round and 23/30 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. Under my revised picks following the Elite 8, I have UMass over Ohio State for the title.
Next Up - The Championship will be on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. Catch it on ESPN.

CBI:
Championship Series - Tulsa leads the best-of-three series 1-0. 10/13 overall.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact. I picked them to win in three, figuring the home team would win every games. So far, so good.
Next Up - Game two will be tomorrow night at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Women's NIT:
Elite 8 - 3/4 for the round and 31/45 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all (over NC State) rather than losing in the Championship. To recap, I have Marquette over Colorado and NC State over Michigan State.
Next Up - Both Final Four games are tomorrow night.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 2/4 total for the round, and 40/61 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion (UNC) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four begins on Saturday at 5:07 p.m. as Memphis takes on UCLA. UNC-Kansas will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of that game. Catch it all on CBS.

Ring Sizing Musings

2008-04-01T18:21:00.001-05:00

I know I know, I'm not supposed to use back-to-back gerunds. So sue me.

Anyway, today was the day. We got sized for the UTPA men's basketball Independent Championship rings. This is getting exciting. All that's left is to place the final order.

I want to thank the team for deciding to give me a ring. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. When I ran into Coach Leonard last night at the Vipers game and he told me I needed to come in to get my finger sized, my eyes lit up and that's all I could think about for the rest of the night.

The best part was, when I went to get my finger sized, it was during practice (don't worry NCAA, it was a player-called practice. No violations). I got to watch Broncs present and "past" play some basketball. Senior quad-captains Paul Stoll, Zach Trader, Brian Burrell and Dexter Shankle were all there. Even Kano Edwards showed up.

It wasn't just about playing or getting fingers sized, though. The graduating players were teaching the young guys and helping them to improve. I could hear Stoll giving pointers to Nick Weiermiller, who appears likely to run the point next season, during game play.

In case you're wondering what Weiermiller's team consisted of, it was Weiermiller and Damon Franklin in the back court, with Emmanuel Jones, Nathan Hawkins and Julius Allgood up front. Ben Smith played on the team with the four seniors.

That got me to thinking, what will next year's starting lineup look like with the graduation of four starters?

That starting five might very well be what we see, or at least something similar.

I will not be surprised if the Broncs go with a bigger lineup next season because they're going to have so much depth at forward with Jones, Hawkins, Allgood (returning from a torn ACL), Jacob Trader, Matt Zaney (sat out season after transferring from UT-Permian Basin) and Adinson Mosquera (assuming he's eligible. I have no idea whether or not he will be). The only returning guards are Smith, Weiermiller, Franklin and Steve Silva. Not a lot of experience there. We know Jason Jenson is transferring from Madison Area Technical College to play his final three seasons for the Broncs. He's supposed to be a three-point shooter. The Broncs need him to be able to adjust to the new three point line (one foot deeper) and the DI game quickly. The Broncs also need Jenson to recover quickly from his hand injury that ended his season after four games. If he does, Jenson could start.

I don't know who else will be joining the Broncs next year, but based on the 11 players we expect to be on the roster, healthy and eligible, here's what I would do:

Starting Lineup:
Point Guard - Weiermiller
Shooting Guard - Jenson (though I think it's going to be an open competition between all of the other guards. It really is too close to call right now)
Small Forward - Hawkins
Power Forward - Jones
Center - Mosquera

Off the Bench:
Point Guard - There's work to be done here
Shooting Guard - Smith/Franklin/Silva
Small Forward - Allgood/Franklin
Power Forward - Zaney
Center - Trader

Right now I'm not sure who would back-up Weiermiller at the point. We saw Smith try his hand at point guard for about 45 seconds against NJIT in February. It didn't look very good, but as one of the real veterans on this team, maybe it could be Smith, though he's more of a shooter.

There's plenty of depth at the two-guard. If Smith can find his shot after a tough sophomore campaign, he might get to start at the position. If nothing else he could be the first guy off the bench.

Don't count Silva out of the race for shooting guard, though. As a senior at Sharyland High School, Silva hit 56.2% of his three-point attempts. The Broncs need a shooter. Silva is one.

As for Franklin, I know he seems undersized at small forward for a guy who is 6'4, but he seems like a perfect swing-man to me. I only saw him hit one three-pointer, but it seemed that he was a high-energy guy who really liked to hit lay-ups and dunk the ball. He doesn't have to be a "forward." He can be a three-guard. I could also see him coming in for Jones since they have similar skill sets, moving Hawkins to power forward if they're in at the same time. Hawkins played both the four and the five during the season, so it wouldn't be a tough transition.

I'm not sure what to expect from Allgood as he recovers from a torn ACL, but I'm excited to see Zaney play. He always looked really good in practice. I know, I know, we're talking about practice.

But come on. When coaches are recruiting they often go to high school practices to watch players. Are you telling me they shouldn't waste their time? I don't think it's a waste of time. I know Zaney's numbers were nothing special at Permian-Basin, but look for him to not only have a big year, but win Independent Newcomer of the Year.

I'm also excited to see what Trader can do given more playing time. He improved by a lot from the beginning of the season to the end. He didn't play much, but when he did, you could see the difference. Also, he clearly improved in practice as well.

Head coach Tom Schuberth is known to be a great recruiter. Once the rest of the incoming class is announced, maybe the rotation will be cleared up a little bit. Maybe not. I am sure they're going to have plenty of talent and work well together, though.

Yeah, the Broncs are losing six seniors, but I think they're actually going to win more games next year.

I'm going to run out of fingers.

Pick Tracker #14

2008-04-01T01:16:00.000-05:00

Nothing like some high-powered anyone can win women's basketball games. Even if I got em both wrong. Hey, you coulda picked any of these four teams to win it all and not made a bad pick.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 0/2 on Monday, 0/2 total for the round, and 46/58 overall.
Mistake #1 - #2 LSU edged #1 North Carolina 56-50 to reach their fifth-straight Final Four. Superstar Sylvia Fowles scored 21 points and ripped down 12 rebounds while blocking five shots. LaToya Pringle matched her with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but only one block. LSU went 8-10 from the foul line in the final minute to seal the deal.
Effect - My justification for the pick was that I didn't think LSU could keep UNC's offense (five double-digit scorers) in-check. Only Pringle scored more than nine points and UNC shot 33.9% from the field. LSU proved they can defend the elite. That's why they won. UNC's previous lowest scoring output this season? 71. I never imagined they would be held to 50. Anyway, I had UNC falling to Tennessee in the Final Four. I stand behind that pick, just replace UNC with LSU.
Mistake #2 - #2 Stanford took a 10-point lead at half-time and never looked back, using three-point shooting (14-28) to counter #1 Maryland's dominant inside punch and win 98-87. Oh yeah, and arguably the greatest player on the planet, Candice Wiggins, score 41 points. For the record, Maryland won the battle of the boards 32-26.
Effect - Defense is overrated. I should've known better. If you'll remember, I almost picked Stanford. I planned to, and then I decided that since Maryland had more options, they'd win. I should have remembered that Wiggins could beat a WNBA team by herself. She is the first player to have two 40-point games in the NCAA Tournament. My colleague and good friend David Riggs of Boston University picked Stanford. So here are some props for him. For the record, though, his championship is UConn over UNC, so I guess I'm doing better in that department. ;-) Anyway, I had UConn beating Maryland in the Final Four. Since Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery are good to go, I'll stand by UConn to beat Stanford.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 concludes tonight.

CBI:
Championship Series - Tulsa leads the best-of-three series 1-0. 10/13 overall.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact. I picked them to win in three, figuring the home team would win every games. So far, so good.
Next Up - Game two will be tomorrow night at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 2/4 total for the round, and 40/61 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion (UNC) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four will be on Saturday.

Women's NIT:
Elite 8 - 3/4 for the round and 31/45 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all (over NC State) rather than losing in the Championship. To recap, I have Marquette over Colorado and NC State over Michigan State.
Next Up - Both Final Four games are tomorrow night.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be today at Madison Square Garden.

Pick Tracker #13

2008-03-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

Oh Davidson, why did you have to prove me right? And on the women's side, did I call it or did I call it? Four 1/2 match ups. Now the real basketball begins. The last three rounds of the women's NCAA tournament will contain some of the best basketball any of us have ever seen, and yes, I know all four #1s made it to the men's Final Four.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 1/2 on Sunday, 2/4 total for the round, and 40/61 overall.
Mistake - #1 Memphis dominated #2 Texas, winning 85-67.
Effect - Well I guess I have to join the party as one of the many who seriously underestimated Memphis. I didn't think they were bad, but I also didn't think they could shoot free throws in the NCAA tournament after being terrible from the line all season. Whoops. I'm going to take Memphis over UCLA in the Final Four, and nothing against UCLA, but I'm not sure it's going to be close. I stand by my Championship pick of UNC, though.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion (UNC) intact.
Next Up - The Final Four will be on Saturday.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Sweet 16 - 4/4 on Sunday, 8/8 total for the round, and 46/56 overall.
Outlook - I have eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 begins tomorrow.

Women's NIT:
Elite 8 - 3/4 on Sunday, 3/4 for the round and 31/45 overall.
Mistake - Colorado continues their shocking run, with a 96-90 overtime win over TCU, who had a chance to win at the end of regulation. With the game tied at 74, Colorado's Whitney Houston hit a jumper to give her team a two-point lead. TCU's Moneka Knight missed a three for the win, but Helen Roden was in the right place at the right time to tip in the rebound at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, tied at 76.
Effect - Colorado is turning into Bradley from the CBI. The more I pick against them, the better they do. Many props to Colorado, after going just 5-11 in the Big 12, they've rebounded in a big way. Still, their Final Four draw is Marquette, who I have winning it all. I'm not changing that pick.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all (over NC State) rather than losing in the Championship. To recap, I have Marquette over Colorado and NC State over Michigan State.
Next Up - Both Final Four games are on Wednesday night.

CBI:
Final Four - 1/2 total for the round and 10/13 overall.
Mistake - #4 Bradley beat #1 Virginia 96-85.
Effect - After incorrectly picking Bradley to lose twice in a row, I will hope the third time is a charm. I'm sticking with #2 Tulsa (73-69 winner over #3 Houston) as my champion in three games, though I originally had them over Valaparaiso and then Virginia once I readjusted the first time. I'm clearly not high on Bradley, but since they're playing well, I'll keep my prediction at three games. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm first giving seeding for the CBI teams now, this is the first time the tournament has told anyone what exactly the seeds are.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact.
Next Up - The best-of-three championship series begins tomorrow in Tulsa. Game two will be on Wednesday at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be on April 1st at Madison Square Garden.

Pick Tracker #12

2008-03-30T00:53:00.001-05:00

How about UNC beating Louisville on both ends today?

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Elite 8 - 1/2 on Saturday, 1/2 total for the round, and 39/59 overall.
Mistake - #1 UCLA beat #3 Xavier 76-57.
Effect - Considering Xavier was the only team in the nation to have six players in double-figures scoring this year, I'm surprised they lost this badly. Clearly they had issues on defense as UCLA shot 53.8% and won the battle of the boards 34-26. Still, I thought they would score enough to win in a shootout. Anyway, this means UCLA will be meeting Texas in the Final Four in San Antonio. I'm still taking Texas. I am proud of the fact that it took until the Elite 8 for me to lose a Final Four team.
Outlook - I have three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 concludes today.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Sweet 16 - 4/4 on Saturday, 4/4 total for the round, and 42/52 overall.
Outlook - I have eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The other four Sweet 16 games are today.

Women's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 7/8 for the round and 28/41 overall.
Outlook - I have three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The Elite 8 begins today.

CBI:
Final Four - 1/2 total for the round and 10/13 overall.
Mistake - #4 Bradley beat #1 Virginia 96-85.
Effect - After incorrectly picking Bradley to lose twice in a row, I will hope the third time is a charm. I'm sticking with #2 Tulsa (73-69 winner over #3 Houston) as my champion in three games, though I originally had them over Valaparaiso and then Virginia once I readjusted the first time. I'm clearly not high on Bradley, but since they're playing well, I'll keep my prediction at three games. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm first giving seeding for the CBI teams now, this is the first time the tournament has told anyone what exactly the seeds are.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact.
Next Up - The best-of-three championship series begins tomorrow in Tulsa. Game two will be on Wednesday at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be on April 1st at Madison Square Garden.

Pick Tracker #11

2008-03-28T23:07:00.003-05:00

Perfect Day!

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Sweet 16 - 4/4 on Friday, 7/8 total for the round, and 38/57 overall.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 begins tomorrow.

Women's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 7/8 for the round and 28/41 overall.
Outlook - I have three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The Elite 8 begins on Sunday.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 38/48 overall.
Outlook - I have 11 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins on Saturday.

CBI:
Final Four - 1/2 total for the round and 10/13 overall.
Mistake - #4 Bradley beat #1 Virginia 96-85.
Effect - After incorrectly picking Bradley to lose twice in a row, I will hope the third time is a charm. I'm sticking with #2 Tulsa (73-69 winner over #3 Houston) as my champion in three games, though I originally had them over Valaparaiso and then Virginia once I readjusted the first time. I'm clearly not high on Bradley, but since they're playing well, I'll keep my prediction at three games. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm first giving seeding for the CBI teams now, this is the first time the tournament has told anyone what exactly the seeds are.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact.
Next Up - The best-of-three championship series begins Monday in Tulsa. Game two will be on Wednesday at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be on April 1st at Madison Square Garden.

Pick Tracker #10

2008-03-27T23:55:00.004-05:00

Major props to Western Kentucky. So close, yet so far away.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Sweet 16 - 3/4 on Thursday, 3/4 total for the round, and 34/53 overall.
Mistake - #3 Louisville had their way with #2 Tennessee, claiming a 79-60 victory.
Effect - I guess I forgot that Rick Pitino doesn't lose to Tennessee. What has it been? 13-straight wins now for Pitino over the Vols? Also, Pitino has never lost in the Sweet 16. Tennessee had never won in the Sweet 16. Yeah... Well, if you forgot too, don't feel bad. Pitino's squad will not beat UNC.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The other four Sweet 16 games will be tomorrow.

Women's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 4/5 on Thursday, 7/8 for the round and 28/41 overall.
Mistake - Colorado beat Villanova 64-58.
Effect - Well, I didn't have either of these teams going this far. TCU looms in the Elite 8. I'll take TCU.
Outlook - I have three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The Elite 8 begins on Saturday and runs through Monday.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 38/48 overall.
Outlook - I have 11 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins on Saturday.

CBI:
Final Four - 1/2 total for the round and 10/13 overall.
Mistake - #4 Bradley beat #1 Virginia 96-85.
Effect - After incorrectly picking Bradley to lose twice in a row, I will hope the third time is a charm. I'm sticking with #2 Tulsa (73-69 winner over #3 Houston) as my champion in three games, though I originally had them over Valaparaiso and then Virginia once I readjusted the first time. I'm clearly not high on Bradley, but since they're playing well, I'll keep my prediction at three games. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm first giving seeding for the CBI teams now, this is the first time the tournament has told anyone what exactly the seeds are.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact.
Next Up - The best-of-three championship series begins Monday in Tulsa. Game two will be on Wednesday at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Friday.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be on April 1st at Madison Square Garden.

NCAA Internet Broadcast Ban is Selfish

2008-03-27T19:21:00.001-05:00

Some more thoughts on the Westwood One internet-broadcast controversy:

I was in my car the other day and I heard the highlight of the game-winning call of one of the many thrillers we've had this March, courtesy of Westwood One. It was the most boring, sleep-inducing call I have ever heard. I don't know who the broadcaster was, but this was likely because of his neutrality, and I can't blame him for that. Westwood One broadcasters are not supposed to favor either team. How boring.

Which of the following would you rather hear?
"And Vermont wins 60-57."
"CINDERELLA IS WEARING GREEN AND GOLD TONIGHT. VERMONT HAS SHOCKED SYRACUSE!!!!!!!"

No contest in my opinion.

I'll do you one better, though. The odds are that people tuning in for an internet-broadcast of an NCAA game is doing so because they want to hear their broadcasters while muting the television or turning down the sound on CBS' free internet-tv showing of all the games (in case the one you want to see isn't being televised in your area). How many people are really tuning into Westwood One's internet (audio-only) broadcast? I would have to think it is a tiny number. Most people tuning into Westwood One probably only have the radio as an option and are not in an area where they can pick up their team's radio broadcast.

So really, how are internet broadcasts by either students or professionals seriously hurting Westwood One? I don't think they are.

So what is this about?

Most people would say "the money." I would respond - "what money?" I can't believe that they were able to make anymore money on selling advertising by banning other internet broadcasts. A conglomerate like Westwood One is going to make the same amount of money either way.

However, maybe it is about the money. Remember, this isn't just about Westwood One, it's about the NCAA. It was the NCAA's choice to place and enforce this ban. I'm guessing Westwood One asked for the ban as part of the contract. The media-giant says jump in the NCAA leaps. What if the NCAA had simply said no? Do you honestly believe Westwood One would've said, "fine, we're not broadcasting the NCAA Tournament"? Maybe they would have asked to pay less money to "protect themselves from the competition (by saving money)." What if the NCAA had said no to that too? Again, I think the NCAA was holding all the cards, yet they folded.

It is also possible that this was the NCAA's idea from the beginning. If so, it might have been to get more money from Westwood One in return for the agreement. If so, it's tough to blame Westwood One for doing it. They certainly have the money, why not do it?

I wish I had all the inside information so I could do more than just speculate based on the facts at hand, but no matter what, one thing is for sure.

Banning internet broadcasts so Westwood One can be the sole-provider is simply being selfish.

Pick Tracker #9

2008-03-27T02:18:00.001-05:00

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse for my Men's NIT bracket, Wednesday happened.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 1/2 on Wednesday, 1/4 total for the round and 21/28 overall.
Mistake #1 - #2 Mississippi pulled away from #1 Virginia Tech down the stretch for an 81-72 victory.
Effect - Well, there goes the weeks of heart-warming features on sentimental favorite Virginia Tech. Also, there goes the team I had winning it all, and the last team I had left in my bracket. It's incredible to think how well things were going before the last few days in this bracket. I thought it was my best one, and despite New Mexico disappointing me early, I was 17 for my first 20. Since then the bottom has fallen out. So my bracket is officially busted. I'll now take Ohio State over Mississippi in the Final Four. I will then take UMass over Ohio State for the NIT Championship. At least Ohio State can say they're the best runner-up in the nation...
Outlook - I have no teams left. I picked three #1s and a #5 to go to the Final Four. The only #1 that made it was the one that I had missing out (Ohio State). The other three teams are all #2s (Florida, UMass and Mississippi). I have half a mind to reverse course from yesterday and pick Florida over UMass just so we can get a rematch of last year's NCAA title game in the NIT (granted, I would still Ohio State to get some sort of revenge), but I won't do it. What can I say, I'm pro-Mass. Go Minutemen!
Next Up - The Final Four will be on April 1st at Madison Square Garden.

Women's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 3/3 on Wednesday, 3/3 for the round and 24/36 overall.
Outlook - I have three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The other five Sweet 16 games are today.

CBI:
Final Four - 1/2 total for the round and 10/13 overall.
Mistake - #4 Bradley beat #1 Virginia 96-85.
Effect - After incorrectly picking Bradley to lose twice in a row, I will hope the third time is a charm. I'm sticking with #2 Tulsa (73-69 winner over #3 Houston) as my champion in three games, though I originally had them over Valaparaiso and then Virginia once I readjusted the first time. I'm clearly not high on Bradley, but since they're playing well, I'll keep my prediction at three games. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm first giving seeding for the CBI teams now, this is the first time the tournament has told anyone what exactly the seeds are.
Outlook - I have my Champion (Tulsa) intact.
Next Up - The best-of-three championship series begins on Sunday in Tulsa. Game two will be on Tuesday at Bradley. If a game three is necessary, the series will shift back to Tulsa on Thursday.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 31/49 overall.
Outlook - I have 10 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first four Sweet 16 games will be today.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 38/48 overall.
Outlook - I have 11 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins on Saturday.

Pick Tracker #8

2008-03-26T01:03:00.002-05:00

One day after my women's NIT bracket was officially busted, my men's bracket is in critical condition. So let's start there.

Men's NIT:
Elite 8 - 0/2 on Tuesday, 0/2 total for the round and 20/26 overall.
Mistake #1 - #2 UMass scored a whopping 57 points in the second half to erase a 17-points half-time deficit and stun #1 Syracuse 81-77. UMass truly lived and died by the three. They were 2-15 (13.3%) in the first half and only shot 23.3% (10-43) overall. The second half was like a different team, as they were 9-16 from downtown (56.3%) and 20-36 (55.6%) overall. Syracuse shot the shame 41% in each half, but after going 4-6 from downtown in the first half, 0-4 in the second half. Perhaps the big key was turnovers. UMass scored 24 points off 19 Syracuse turnovers. Syracuse only score 12 points off 12 UMass turnovers.
Effect - There goes my NIT Runner Up. It's time like this I'm glad I reversed course at the last second and chose Virginia Tech instead. While I'm not happy with the effect on my bracket, this further proves why the NIT is a good thing and should always be around. This is March Madness at its finest. I'm glad we have this tournament. Anyway, UMass-Florida is going to be a great game in the Final Four. I'm going to ride the wave and take UMass. Of course, the more I pick against Florida, the more I think they're going to win the NIT the year after winning the NCAA Tournament. Still not as impressive as CCNY winning both in 1950.
Mistake #2 - #2 Florida beat #1 Arizona State 70-57.
Effect - I probably should have had an idea something would go wrong when I picked three #1s to go to the Final Four, and after #5 New Mexico lost early, changed it to all four. Yeah... Anyway, as I said above, great game against UMass coming. UMass will win in my opinion, but that doesn't make it fact. So make sure you watch it.
Outlook - I have one Final Four team and my Champion intact, meaning everything's riding on Virginia Tech.
Next Up - The other two Elite 8 games are today.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 6/8 on Tuesday, 12/16 total for the round, and 38/48 overall.
Mistake #1 - Jazzmin Walters hit a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left and Tiffany Green blocked #4 Virginia's last gasp attempt to tie it as #5 Old Dominion won 88-85 in ovetime.
Effect - After an incredible game, Old Dominion now gets the honor of losing to UConn instead of Virginia in the Sweet 16.
Mistake #2 - Not to be outdone, #5 Notre Dame also won in overtime, beating #4 Oklahoma 79-75.
Effect - After the second best game of the day (edges Maryland-Nebraska), Notre Dame now gets to lose to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
Outlook - I have 11 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins on Saturday.

Women's NIT:
Second Round - 10/16 for the round and 21/32 overall.
Outlook - I have nine Sweet 16 teams, three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins today.

CBI:
Elite 8 - 3/4 total for the round and 9/12 overall.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion intact.
Next Up - The Final Four will take place today.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 31/49 overall.
Outlook - I have 10 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first four Sweet 16 games will be tomorrow.

Pick Tracker #7

2008-03-25T01:44:00.002-05:00

My women's NIT bracket is officially busted. So let's start there.

Women's NIT:
Second Round - 6/10 on Monday, 10/16 for the round and 21/32 overall.
Mistake #1 - Boston College defeated Vermont 76-64.
Effect - I had Vermont going all the way, and that's not because of any America East bias. There was no doubt in my mind that they could beat BC and St. John's, and based the rest of that bracket, Florida Gulf Coast. It was a closer game than it may sound, and this proves what I said in my preview - anyone in this field can win it all. Proof positive, especially since Marquette, who I had as the runner up, needed overtime to beat Creighton. So, now what? I'll take St. John's over BC, NC State (who I originally didn't have going this far... stay tuned) over St. John's, Michigan State over NC State, and then in the Championship Game I'll take Marquette. Clean up on aisle two!
Mistake #2 - Florida ended Florida Gulf Coast's incredible inaugural Division One season with a 60-55 victory.
Effect - A tight game, but this knocks off another one of my Elite 8 teams. Now I'll take NC State over Florida in the Sweet 16. Then Michigan State over NC State in the Elite 8.
Mistake #3 - Southern Mississippi came back from down six at the break to edge Mississippi State 62-61.
Effect - I had Mississippi State over Michigan in the Sweet 16 before falling to Michigan State in the Elite 8. I'll now take Michigan over South Mississippi in the Sweet 16, but the Wolverines will lose to Michigan State in the Elite 8.
Mistake #4 - Colorado beat Gonzaga 82-68.
Effect - One of my upset picks gone wrong. Gonzaga was so much hotter entering the tournament, despite being forced to play on the road, I never in a million years thought they would lose to Colorado. I had Gonzaga losing to Wisconsin (who has since lost to Villanova) in the Sweet 16. I'll now take Villanova over Colorado.
Outlook - I have nine Sweet 16 teams, three Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my original runner up intact. I have lost my original Champion (Vermont). Now I'll take Marquette to win it all rather than losing in the Championship.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins tomorrow.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 6/8 on Monday, 6/8 total for the round, and 32/40 overall.
Mistake #1 - #6 Pittsburgh outscored #3 Baylor 41-31 in the second half to win 67-59.
Effect - I had a feeling there was a chance this could happen, but I just couldn't pick against Baylor in this game. It costs me a Sweet 16 team but nothing more as Stanford is waiting around the corner, and, well, that will be the end of Pittsburgh's season.
Mistake #2 - #6 George Washington rallied from down eight at half-time to beat #3 California on a Sarah-Jo Lawrence buzzer beating two-pointer 55-53.
Effect - This game was everything March is supposed to be about, so I'll let this one slide. Still, I am a bit surprised just because Cal seemed so unstoppable lately. Well, GW gets to enjoy it for now. #2 Rutgers will be waiting for them the Sweet 16, and that's where it ends for GW.
Outlook - I have 13 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The other eight second round games are today.

Men's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 3/4 on Monday, 7/8 total for the round and 20/24 overall.
Mistake - Tied at 28 at half-time, #3 Dayton used a strong second half to beat #2 Illinois State 55-48.
Effect - I had Illinois State losing in the next round (originally to New Mexico, now to Ohio State). I'll take Ohio State over Dayton in the Elite 8.
Outlook - I have five Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first two Elite 8 games are today.

CBI:
Elite 8 - 3/4 total for the round and 9/12 overall.
Mistake - Houston wrecked Valparaiso, 91-67. Rob McKiver, who averages 23.1 points per game, scored 33 while Kelvin Lewis' 9.6 ppg turned into 28 points in the win.
Effect - Honestly, I didn't realize this game was be playing in Houston. When I made my picks, they hadn't really announced hosts yet, just match ups. Still, it shouldn't have made that big a difference. Maybe it didn't. Maybe Houston was just better and I messed this one up. Well, I had Valparaiso over Virginia in the Final Four followed by a Championship round loss to Tulsa two games to one. Of course, I'm not sure if those would have been the match ups since the seeding was never announced and they decided to reseed for the Final Four. Anyway, Houston is actually playing at Tulsa in the Final Four tomorrow, so I'll take Tulsa. FYI - Bradley is at Virginia in the other game. I'm going to take Virginia in that game with Tulsa beating Virginia in three games for the Championship.
Outlook - I have two Final Four teams and my Champion intact.
Next Up - The Final Four will take place tomorrow.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 12/16 total for the round, and 31/49 overall.
Outlook - I have 10 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first four Sweet 16 games will be on Thursday.

Pick Tracker #6

2008-03-23T22:54:00.000-05:00

Today we had some near misses, but no dice on upsets.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 7/8 on Sunday, 12/16 total for the round, and 31/49 overall.
Mistake #1 - #12 Western Kentucky used a big first half to beat #13 San Diego 72-63.
Effect - This is a bit of a double-whammy since I had Drake over UConn in this game originally, then made a revised pick of San Diego over Western Kentucky. I give up, Tampa. You win. Still, UCLA's going to beat Western Kentucky in the next round...
Outlook - I have 10 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first four Sweet 16 games will be on Thursday.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 64 - 12/16 on Sunday, 26/32 total for the round, and 26/32 overall.
Mistake #1 - #8 Nebraska held off #9 Xavier's second-half rally to win 61-58.
Effect - So now Nebraska decides to get their first tourney win in 10 years? Figures. Luckily, this only costs me a second round team. Maryland looms on Tuesday.
Mistake #2 - #8 Georgia used a big second half to comeback against #9 Iowa 67-61.
Effect - I can stomach this too since I know UNC will get revenge for me in two days.
Mistake #3 - #8 Utah couldn't get off the mat after being humiliated in their conference tournament, nor did they have a chip on their shoulder after getting under-seeded they lost to #9 Purdue 66-59. Of course, as my good friend David Riggs (and voice of the Boston University Terriers women's basketball team this season) points out, that game was AT Purdue, so should I have really expected Utah to win?
Effect - Tennessee becomes the third number one seed that I am counting on for revenge. So long Purdue.
Mistake #4 - #8 Texas completed the clean sweep of me picking all four 8/9 match ups incorrectly by smoking #9 Minnesota in the first half and never looking back, claiming a 72-55 victory.
Effect - Normally I root for teams that I pick, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't root against the #1 in the early rounds for the awesome upset. In two days I'm rooting for only the #1s. Here we go UConn here we go!
Outlook - I have 26 second round teams, 15 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The first eight second round games are tomorrow.

Women's NIT:
Second Round - 1/1 on Sunday, 4/6 for the round and 15/22 overall.
Outlook - I have 28 second round teams, 13 Sweet 16 teams, six Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The remaining 10 second round games are tomorrow.

Men's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 4/4 total for the round and 17/20 overall.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The remaining four Sweet 16 games will be on March 24th.

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 6/8 total for the round.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 will take place on March 24th.

Pick Tracker #5

2008-03-22T23:47:00.004-05:00

WILL THE MADNESS EVER CEASE? (I hope not)

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 32 - 5/8 on Sautrday, 5/8 total for the round, and 24/41 overall.
Mistake #1 - Apparently a near-miss against Belmont wasn't enough to wake up #2 Duke, who fell to #7 West Virginia 73-67.
Effect - I had Duke winning this game and losing to Xavier in the Sweet 16. So I'll take Xavier over West Virginia instead.
Mistake #2 - #4 Washington State walked all over #5 Notre Dame, winning 61-41.
Effect - So much for a good game in a 4/5. I can't believe Notre Dame got beaten so badly. Washington State's looked good, like the team we all remember from the first half of the season, but I'm going to pick against them again in the Sweet 16. UNC's going to end their season. If not, my bracket is officially busted.
Mistake #3 - After a close first half, #5 Michigan State pulled away from #4 Pittsburgh 65-54. Drew Neitzel scored 21 points and had four assists, the same number as the top two assisters for Pitt.
Effect - I lose another sweet 16 team, but with Memphis looming around the corner, I'll go out on a limb and say that's all I'm losing here.
Outlook - I have 10 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The other eight second round games are tomorrow.

Women's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 64 - 14/16 on Saturday, 14/16 total for the round, and 14/16 overall.
Mistake #1 - #7 Marist went on a 32-2 run over the final 12:41 (at which point DePaul was up 55-44) to come from behind to shock #10 DePaul, 76-57. I'll do you one better. DePaul didnt' score for the final 8:30 of the game (at which point it was 58-57 Marist), meaning Marist closed the game on an 18-0 run.
Effect - This only costs me a second round team, but that doesn't make me okay with it. I almost picked Marist. In fact, I was going to pick them, and as I started writing my justification, I realized I couldn't do it. I really thought DePaul would win. I would have been right if they didn't stop scoring all of a sudden. I can't explain it. The biggest run I'd ever seen previously was 22-0 (12/13/05, Boston University women did it @ Harvard). There was also that 20-2 run by NJIT against UTPA over the final 7:30 of the second round Women's National Independent game. But 32-2?!? I never dreamed of anything like that. Anyway, Marist is going to carry this momentum into the first half against LSU, but when it's all said and done, LSU's still moving on, not Marist.
Mistake #2 - #11 Florida State beat #6 Ohio State 60-49. So much for Star Allen's return being the boost that propelled Ohio State to the Sweet 16. She ended up with four points. To make matters worse, Florida State was not only a controversial tournament team, but possibly the last team in. Lots of credit to Tanae Davis-Cain for providing 27 points and seven rebounds, four of which were offensive. Davis-Cain was hurt for part of the season, and the selection committee apparently used that as an excuse for why Florida State won "only" 18 games. Well, if she keeps playing like this, the sky's the limit.
Effect - I now think Oklahoma State will roll past Florida State before losing to LSU in the Sweet 16.
Outlook - I have 30 second round teams, 15 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The other 16 first round games tomorrow.

Men's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 1/1 on Saturday, 4/4 total for the round and 17/20 overall.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The remaining four Sweet 16 games will be on March 24th.

Women's NIT:
First Round - 1/2 on Saturday and 11/16 for the round.
Mistake - Virginia Commonwealth jumped out to a 42-27 half-time lead and never looked back as the beat Charlotte 80-67.
Effect - Didn't see that one coming. I had Charlotte falling to Michigan in the second round. So that'll be VCU's fate instead.
Second Round - 2/4 on Saturday, 3/5 for the round and 14/21 overall.
Mistake #1 - James Madison got past Indiana in overtime, 86-81.
Effect - This is a tough one. I had Indiana over Kentucky in the Sweet 16 before falling to Marquette in the Elite 8. Kentucky barely escaped against Middle Tennessee State in overtime yesterday, so this one might be wide open. Still, I'll take Kentucky, who will then lose to Marquette in the Elite 8.
Mistake #2 - Villanova edged Wisconsin 60-54.
Effect - Another tough one as I had Wisconsin over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 before losing to TCU in the Elite 8. Now I'll take Gonzaga over Villanova in the Sweet 16. Still, I like TCU in the Elite 8, though.
Outlook - I have 28 second round teams, 13 Sweet 16 teams, six Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - Boise State plays at TCU in the lone second round game tomorrow.

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 6/8 total for the round.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 will take place on March 24th.

Student Radio NOT a Threat

2008-03-22T14:03:00.002-05:00

In fact, it's a necessity. I just read this article and I can't believe the NCAA is pulling this.

I started at WTBU, Boston University's student-run radio station. There I had some of the most incredible moments of my life, and I know I'm not alone in this. We broadcast hundreds of games every year across eight different sports. This includes men's basketball and men's ice hockey, which are also done professionally. WTBU is allowed to broadcast those games anyway, though because it's a student-station and the pros aren't worried about the competition, nor should they be. Yeah, maybe WTBU steals some of their listeners, but most people probably listen to the pros while WTBU may get some stray students and alumni for those games. Still, listeners are listeners, and I can't believe that the NCAA would be anti-student radio.

What's the NCAA about? STUDENTS! Those young men and women out there playing basketball on national TV right now, they're not just athletes, they're students too. Most of them will go pro in something other than sports, or so the NCAA commercial goes.

If I had a choice between listening to Westwood One or student radio for a UCLA game, I'd choose student radio if I was rooting for UCLA. They've seen the team all year long and student radio is always more exciting because its their school and a biased broadcast. Who wants to hear a neutral broadcast in the NCAA Tournament?

And, let's be honest, if the students are there, Westwood One isn't going to lose any money. This is just selfish and plain stupid on their part.

WTBU happens to be on 89.3 FM and 640 AM in addition to the internet and BUTV, but the bulk of the listeners are on the internet. In fact, during my senior year, we considered dropping the radio waves because it was costing more money than it was worth. Luckily, we didn't. WTBU is the flagship station for BU women's basketball. What if BU went to the NCAA Tournament and we had dropped the frequencies? Would we not have been allowed to go because we were internet-only?

This brings up a bigger problem. It goes beyond Student Radio. There are plenty of schools that do internet-only broadcasts. It's cheaper and easier than being on the radio. If Utah Valley or Chicago State had gone to the NCAA Tournament, would their broadcasters have had to sit it out? If UTPA had gone, would I have had to do radio-only broadcasts and drop the internet games? Where's the logic in this?

If I've been following the team all year, would you rather hear me or some guy who has never even heard of the team? If the best independent team got to go to the Big Dance, would I have had to drop the internet broadcasts so you would all be forced to listen to a couple of guys slobbering all over the #1 seed I'm sure would have been the opponent? Who may not have realized UTPA's mascot is the Bronc and not the Bronco? Who would have had no idea Paul Stoll was that good with a broken foot? Or that Dexter Shankle led the team in scoring two years ago? Or that Emmanuel Jones battled through illnesses all season? Or that Danny Puente was the best guard in Valley history and could have gone elsewhere but chose to stay close to home? Or that Nick Weiermiller was all-state in ping pong at Elmira Free Academy? Or the story behind Adinson Mosqeura (thank you NCAA)? Or how to pronounce Brian Burrell's home town - Nacogdoches? Or even where it is? Or that Zach Trader played under three different head coaches at UTPA? Or that Jacob is his brother? Or that Nathan Hawkins is George Gervin's nephew? Or that Coach Schuberth was an assistant coach at UCF during the 2004 NCAA Tournament? Or that Schuberth went to the Final Four as a player at UNLV? Or that he was a Globetrotter?

That blogging violation they mentioned in the article is also ridiculous, but that's for another blog.

I love college sports, but I have to say, the NCAA is doing whatever it can to try to eliminate that passion. It's dripping with irony.

And by the way. There are students recording themselves calling the same baseball games that I broadcast. They will be putting them up on a website soon. I will post a link to that website once it's available. I am excited for them. They get play-by-play and color experience. I only wish they could do the games live. Maybe someday soon. Yes, that would put them in direct competition with me. And I'm just fine with that. I'm secure in my ability to bring in listeners. Apparently Westwood One isn't.

Pick Tracker #4

2008-03-21T23:53:00.001-05:00

So THAT's why they call it "March Madness..."

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 64 - 8/16 on Friday, 18/32 total for the round, and 19/33 overall.
Mistake #1 - #7 Miami (FL) defeated #10 Saint Mary's 78-64 thanks to a 51-point second half.
Effect - Well, maybe Miami should have been on my radar screen after all. Still, Texas will wipe the floor with Miami. Minimal damage here.
Mistake #2 - Ty Rogers hit a deep three at the buzzer as #12 Western Kentucky shocked #5 Drake 101-99 in overtime.
Effect - This one hurts a lot. I had Drake going to the Elite 8. I had Drake over UConn in the next round. Don't have to worry about that anymore either. I also had Drake over UCLA in the Sweet 16. UCLA will now have a cake walk to the Elite 8 against Xavier. I'll still take Xavier, though.
Mistake #3 - Despite Jay Greene's ability to block out Roy Hibbert for a rebound at one point, #2 Georgetown took care of #15 UMBC, 66-47.
Effect - All these upsets and this couldn't be one of them? Well, I guess Davidson's gonna get tested sooner than I expected. I think Davidson can rise to the challenge in this game. Really, I have nothing against Georgetown...
Mistake #4 - #13 San Diego also picked up a last second overtime upset in Tampa, beating #4 UConn 70-69.
Effect - Well, I had UConn losing to Drake in the next round, so this one isn't terrible. I will take San Diego over Western Kentucky. UCLA will beat San Diego in the Sweet 16.
Mistake #5 - #6 Oklahoma led by as many as 19 and held off a furious late rally to beat #11 St. Joseph's 72-64.
Effect - Well, at least #3 Louisville will have a tougher game in the next round. Doesn't matter, Louisville's still going to win.
Mistake #6 - #13 Siena beat #4 Vanderbilt 83-62 in a game that was really never close.
Effect - A friend of mine was making fun of some of my upset picks and told me if I want to pick an upset, I should pick Siena. I laughed at him. Whoops. Congratulations to Siena, part of the nothing-but-upsets Tampa games today. I had Vanderbilt over Clemson in the next round and losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16. Now I'll take Villanova over Siena in the next round with Kansas still taking care of business after that.
Mistake #7 - #9 Arkansas handled #8 Indiana 86-72.
Effect - My gut told me Indiana wasn't going to win a game, but I picked them anyway. Congrats to Arkansas. You're about to lose to UNC.
Mistake #8 - #12 Villanova erased a 12-point half-time deficit to beat #5 Clemson 75-69.
Effect - Another Tampa upset. What chance did Clemson have? Seriously, though, it was a great game all the way down to the end. I had Clemson bowing out to Vanderbilt in the next round, so this isn't terrible. I think Villanova's going to beat Siena then lose to Kansas.
Outlook - I have 18 second round teams, 13 sweet 16 teams, seven Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - Eight second round games tomorrow.

Men's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 1/1 on Friday, 3/3 total for the round and 16/19 overall.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 runs through March 24th.

Women's NIT:
First Round - 1/2 on Friday and 10/14 for the round.
Second Round - 1/1 on Friday, 1/1 for the round and 11/15 overall.
Mistake - It's not considered an upset, but in a shock to my system, North Carolina A&T fell to South Carolina 102-74. This might be a case of South Carolina being thankful to simply be playing post-season basketball while A&T is disappointed they're not in the NCAA Tournament (seemed like a foregone conclusion before their conference tournament).
Effect - I had NC A&T losing to NC State in the second round. I don't care how many points South Carolina scored. They will fall to NC State.
Outlook - I have 29 second round teams, 15 Sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The final two first round games and four more second round games are on the slate for tomorrow.

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 6/8 total for the round.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 will take place on March 24th.

How Sweep It Is

2008-03-21T17:57:00.000-05:00

Pitching always beats hitting, and that was certainly true the last two days for the Broncs baseball team. The Broncs bullpen didn't allow a run in 5.2 innings while starting pitchers Matt Shepherd and A.J. Franco were dominant, not allowing any runs until the seventh inning, in the sweep of Houston Baptist.

Today's 3-2 win was certainly impressive just because it was the Broncs' lowest scoring output in a win this season. They had been averaging 11.3 runs per game in wins. That number has since dropped to 10.1. The Broncs' previous lowest scoring win was six runs in a 6-1 win over St. Louis. It was also the Broncs' first one-run win of the season, the closest win had been that 6-1 win.

The success of a season is often determined by low-scoring close games. Good teams win those games. Now that the Broncs have the first one out of the way, maybe they can get a few more. The real test will be on Tuesday at Lamar. That's a team with some very good pitching and the ability to steal bases. Could be one of those games where you scratch and claw for every pitch. Normally people ride Broncs. The key here, though, is for the Broncs to ride the momentum.

Pick Tracker #3

2008-03-21T00:38:00.003-05:00

Remember, it's okay to make first round mistakes if your last four rounds aren't really hurt, and they're fine. So despite a feeling of being busted while looking at the scoreboard after the Broncs whipped Houston Baptist 10-2 in baseball today, I've since realized everything is going to be all right.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Round of 64 - 10/16 on Thursday, 10/16 total for the round, and 11/17 overall.
Mistake #1 - #6 Marquette beat #11 Kentucky 74-66. Joe Crawford did what he could with 35 points, and while the game was close, maybe I should have known better than to think that Kentucky could go to the sweet 16 without Patterson, especially after watching them look so terrible during the first half of the season.
Effect - Well, I had Kentucky over Cornell, but since they lost too, that whole section is done. Texas is still going to the Elite 8.
Mistake #2 - #14 Cornell came out super flat and fell to #3 Stanford 77-53 in Anaheim, CA. Who comes out flat in the NCAA Tournament? Seriously! Cornell was outscored 38-17, but played an even second half.
Effect - I had Cornell losing in the next round to Kentucky. Whoops. I'll take Stanford over Marquette instead, with Texas beating Stanford in the Sweet 16.
Mistake #3 - #11 Kansas State beat #6 USC 80-67. Michael Beasley had a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds while O.J. Mayo had 20 points and five assists in the battle of freshman phenoms. Beasley didn't win the game by himself. It was team defense and rebounding, not to mention a fast start.
Effect - I had USC falling to Wisconsin. If Kansas State plays defense against Wisconsin like they did tonight, they'll win that game. I don't think they will, though.
Mistake #4 - #4 Washington State and #13 Winthrop were tied at 29 at half-time, but Washington State outscore Winthrop 42-11 in the second half to win 71-40.
Effect - Notre Dame is still going to win the next game, though it won't be as easy.
Mistake #5 - #9 Texas A&M beat #8 BYU 67-62. A lot of people only picks nines because of the hope of getting upset points. If you're wrong it's not a big deal. You figure the #1 will win in round two anyway. Honestly, though, I was so impressed after BYU's regular season I thought they would surely win a game this year.
Effect - The battle to lose to UCLA. Minimal impact.
Mistake #6 - #7 West Virginia squeaked by #10 Arizona 75-65. I know 10 points doesn't sound like a close game, but it was until the very end. Could have gone either way. The Mountaineers hit 11 three-pointers in the win.
Effect - After watching #2 Duke barely beat #15 Belmont, I'm tempted to reverse course now, but I'll stand firm. Duke will beat West Virginia instead of Arizona.
Outlook - I have 26 second round teams, 15 sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - 16 more first round games today. I can't wait.

Men's NIT:
Sweet 16 - 2/2 on Thursday, 2/2 total for the round and 15/18 overall.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 runs through March 24th.

Women's NIT:
First Round - 7/9 on Thursday and 9/12 for the round.
Mistake #1 - Down 11 at half-time, Texas State scored 50 points in the second half to beat Prairie View A&M 84-83. That knocks out one of my Sweet 16 teams. After the first half I was confident in my assessment of Texas State as a team that couldn't step up. Turns out I was wrong.
Effect - I'll now take Texas Tech over Texas State, but TCU will still win in the Sweet 16.
Mistake #2 - South Dakota State couldn't hold a seven point half-time lead as Creighton was the lone road team to win tonight, 76-69 thanks to 49 second half points. There goes South Dakota State's 12-game winning streak.
Effect - Marquette is going to beat Creighton handily instead of South Dakota State. Fine by me.
Outlook - I have 30 second round teams, 15 Sweet 16 teams, eight Elite 8 teams, four Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - There are three games on the slate for tomorrow, two of the remaining four first round games and the first second round game (Middle Tennessee State against Kentucky).

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 6/8 total for the round.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 will take place on March 24th.

Pick Tracker #2

2008-03-20T00:19:00.000-05:00

I hope you've all enjoyed my picks so far. If you agree, disagree or have any opinions at all, feel free to comment on the posts. Here's an update on how my picks are looking so far:

Men's NIT:
Round of 32 - 6/8 on Wednesday and 13/16 total for the round.
Mistake #1 - #5 UAB over #4 VCU, 80-77, holding off a furious second half rally by VCU (outscored UAB 50-42). Eric Maynor had a chance to tie it with three seconds left, but he missed it and UAB's Aaron Johnson got the rebound to end it.
Effect - I had Virginia Tech beating VCU, and since they were evenly matched with UAB, I'll still take Virginia Tech.
Mistake #2 - #4 California held off #5 New Mexico 68-66. J.R. Giddens scored the final seven New Mexico points, but missed two key free throws with 1:41 left and couldn't convert on a jumper to tie the game with one second left. Jamal Boykin scored Cal's final six points, four of which came from the line. He also picked up arguably a game-winning offensive rebound after Ryan Anderson missed two free throws with the game tied at 66 with 36 second remaining.
Effect - This is a tough one to swallow. New Mexico was so close. Perhaps I was too high on them. I had them going to the Final Four! Now I'll take Ohio State over Cal in the Sweet 16, meaning Illinois State will have to play at Ohio State. Illinois State was 15-1 at home, but struggled on the road. So Ohio State will go to the Final Four and lose to Virginia Tech. This means all four #1 seeds are now going to the Final Four.
Outlook - I have 13 Sweet 16 teams, six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Sweet 16 begins today and runs through March 24th.

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 3/4 on Wednesday and 6/8 total for the round.
Mistake - Utah beat UTEP 81-69 on the road thanks to a big first half. UTEP tried to comeback in the second half, they certainly scored enough to do it, but they couldn't get a defensive stop..
Effect - I had Tulsa over UTEP in the next round. I'll take Tulsa over Utah instead.
Outlook - I have six Elite 8 teams, three Final Four teams and my Championship intact.
Next Up - The Elite 8 will take place on March 24th.

Women's NIT:
First Round - 2/3 on Wednesday with 13 games left to play over the next three days.
Mistake - Iona rode a big first half to a 71-59 upset victory at Quinnipiac.
Effect - I had Quinnipiac losing to St. John's in the next round. So Iona will lose instead.

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Play-In Game - CORRECT

Women's NCAA Tournament Picks

2008-03-19T23:20:00.002-05:00

The Women's NCAA Tournament is always top heavy, and this year is no different. There aren't going to be a lot of upsets, that's just the nature of the game. There are the top teams and then there's everyone else. The NIT is certainly more competitive and, in my opinion, more entertaining until the elite eight. Once you get there, though, it's like watching the WNBA Playoffs.

There's no play-in game on the women's side. I'm not really sure why, but, oh well.

So, without further ado, the picks!

Round of 64

Upper Left Hand Corner

#1 UConn over #16 Cornell
#9 Minnesota over #8 Texas
•Texas might be the greatest program in history, but this year? Give me Emily Fox and the Golden Gophers. Texas struggled mightily in conference, going 7-9 in the Big 12 after opening the season 12-4. They made a nice run in the conference tournament, and that's probably why they got over-seeded. Emily Fox was a Team USA star and averaged 17 points and 4.2 assists per game while leading the team with 77 steals and finishing second with 20 blocks. Fox and Katie Ohm will hit every three-pointer that inside presences Ashley Milan-Ellis and Leslie Knight create. This may be an 8/9 game, but I'm not so sure it's going to be close.

#5 Old Dominion over #12 Liberty
#4 Virginia over #12 UC Santa Barbara

#6 George Washington over #11 Auburn
#3 Califonia over #14 San Diego

#7 Iowa State over #10 Georgia Tech
#2 Rutgers over #15 Robert Morris

Bottom Left Hand Corner

#1 Maryland over #16 Coppin State
#9 Xavier over #8 Nebraska
•Nebraska had some nice wins this year (Texas, Iowa State twice, Kansas), but they also lost against a lot of tough teams (Marist, Utah, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas twice). Xavier, on the other hand, knocked off #24 NC State 51-49, #7 Georgia 65-55 and #17 George Washington 63-59 en route to winning the A10. Ta'Shia Phillips averaged a double-double (14.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game) while Amber Harris was also huge at 15.3 pg, 8.9 rpg and a team-high 2.7 blocks per game.

#5 West Virginia over #12 New Mexico
#4 Vanderbilt over #13 Montana

#6 Pittsburgh over #11 Wyoming
#3 Baylor over #14 Fresno State

#7 UTEP over #10 Western Kentucky
#2 Stanford over #15 Cleveland State

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 UNC over #16 Bucknell
#9 Iowa over #8 Georgia
•Iowa didn't beat a ranked team this year, though they had close losses to #13 Arizona State and #20 Ohio State. This team did sweep Minnesota though, which is very impressive. Iowa did well in conference at 13-5. Georgia, on the other hand, went just 9-7 in the SEC and lost a lot of games to tournament teams. They have experience, but I'm not sure that they're going to get that big win.

#5 Kansas State over #12 Chattanooga
#4 Louisville over #13 Miami (Ohio)

#6 Ohio State over #11 Florida State
#3 Oklahoma State over #14 East Tennessee State

#10 DePaul over #7 Marist
•Marist has been virtually untouchable this year, losing just two games. Of course, those losses were at Ohio State and at home to Hartford. Their only good win of the year was 70-66 in overtime against Utah at a neutral site. 30 other wins against teams that don't cut the mustard. DePaul, on the other hadn, went 3-7 against ranked teams this season, with four of those losses coming by an average of four points, including a 77-76 loss to #1 UConn in which the Huskies won it on a last-second shot. This team is battle-tested. Marist is not. This might not be as good of a game as I was hoping when I first saw the match up.
#2 LSU over #15 Jackson State

Bottom Right Hand Corner

#1 Tennessee over #16 Oral Roberts
#8 Utah over #9 Purdue
•Let's give Utah a mulligan for the conference tournament...

#5 Notre Dame over #12 Southern Methodist
#4 Oklahoma over #13 Illinois State

#6 Arizona State over #11 Temple
#3 Duke over #14 Murray State

#10 Hartford over #7 Syracuse
•Hartford is a perfect machine. Erica Beverley and Diana Delva dominate the inside, MaryLynne Schaeffer can hit no-look half court shots, and Lisa Etienne is both a great distributer and shooter. Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti has experience coaching and playing (with UConn) in the NCAA Tournament as well as winning a WNBA Championship. Each of these teams has a home win against a ranked team, but Hartford's been dominating opponents for nearly two-straight months now. Syracuse can match Hartford's big four with two big women (Chandrea Jones and Fantasia Goodwin) and two solid three-point shooters (Erica Morrow and Nicole Michael), but Hartford is deeper.
#2 Texas A&M over #15 Texas-San Antonio

Round of 32

Upper Left Hand Corner

#1 UConn over #9 Minnesota
#4 Virginia over #5 Old Dominion

#3 California over #6 George Washington
#2 Rutgers over #7 Iowa State

Bottom Left Hand Corner

#1 Maryland over #9 Xavier
#4 Vanderbilt over #5 West Virginia

#3 Baylor over #6 Pittsburgh
#2 Stanford over #7 UTEP

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 UNC over #9 Iowa
#4 Louisville over #5 Kansas State

#6 Ohio State over #3 Oklahoma State
•Finally, a second round upset courtesy of Ohio State junior forward Star Allen who missed 18 games due to academic ineligibility. She started 10 of her 12 games this year, averaging 8.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game after leading the Big Ten with a .625 field goal percentage last year, and setting a conference record with a .694 clip. She might be rusty, but just having her will be enough to propel the Buckeyes.
#2 LSU over #10 DePaul
•I want to pick this upset so badly, but four of LSU's five losses were to Maryland, Rutgers, UConn and Tennessee. They went 13-0 in the SEC and won at Tennessee 78-62 during the conference season. I don't honestly believe DePaul will be able to contain Sylvia Fowles or Quianna Chaney.

Lower Right Hand Corner

#1 Tennessee over #8 Utah
#4 Oklahoma over #5 Notre Dame

#3 Duke over #6 Arizona State
#2 Texas A&M over #10 Hartford

Sweet 16

Upper Left Hand Corner

#1 UConn over #4 Virginia
#2 Rutgers over #3 California
•Rutger edged Cal 56-51 in December, but more importantly, Cal looked completely overwhelmed in two of their three meetings with Stanford while Rutgers has been playing with the top teams in the nation all season (despite a two-point scare against lowly Princeton).

Lower Left Hand Corner

#1 Maryland over #4 Vanderbilt
#2 Stanford over #3 Baylor

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 UNC over #4 Louisville
#2 LSU over #6 Ohio State

Lower Right Hand Corner

#1 Tennessee over #4 Oklahoma
#2 Texas A&M over #3 Duke

Elite 8

Upper Left Hand Corner

#1 UConn over #2 Rutgers
•UConn only has one loss this season, 73-71 at Rutgers on February 5th. Six days later, Rutgers should have beaten Tennessee 58-57, but instead lost 59-58 on a controversial clock decision at the end. That was a heck of a week for Rutgers. They lost their last two games before the tournament, though, getting crushed by UConn, 66-56 on the road and falling to Louisville in the Big East Quarterfinals 57-56. Rutgers is going to be playing better than that and ready after beating Cal, but Geno Auriema's team isn't losing to anyone twice this year.

Lower Left Hand Corner

#1 Maryland over #2 Stanford
•Let's see, Stanford beat Rutgers, Utah, Baylor (by 24!), Tennessee (in overtime), Arizona State twice and Cal three times. Maryland beat Oklahoma, Notre Dame, LSU (by 13), Ohio State (by 24), Duke twice (by 15 and seven before falling in the ACC semis to Duke by 11). Both teams went 30-3. Maryland lost to Rutgers (68-60), UNC (97-86 in overtime) and Duke (74-63). Stanford lost to UConn (66-54 in November), UCLA and USC to open 2008 (before getting major revenge on both about four weeks later). They've won 18-straight games entering the Big Dance. Maryland has Kristi Toliver, Crystal Langhorne, Marissa Coleman and Laura Harper averaging 63.8 points, 28.9 rebounds, 13.2 assists and 2.8 blocks per game. Stanford, on the other hand, has Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel and Kayla Pedersen averaging 46.3 points, 21.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 3.5 blocks per game. Stanford relies more on its depth for the rest of the stats. I could go either way. I was originally going to argue for Stanford. I've since changed my mind and decided on Maryland. Anyone have a coin I could flip?

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 UNC over #2 LSU
•This reminds me of the UNC-Illinois men's championship game from a few years ago. UNC can't shoot the three, but they dominate the inside like no team I've seen (except maybe Maryland). They have five players in double-figures scoring and average 87.9 points per game while allowing 64.3. LSU, meanwhile, has outscored opponents 70.6-50.6 this season. This is what we call offense versus defense. UNC lost to UConn and Tennessee this year. LSU had one bad loss - to Middle Tennessee. It's not a lot to go by and I'm nit-picking, but again, where's that coin? Honestly, though, I don't think LSU can hold UNC's offense in check. They tend to give up lots of points to the elite teams.

Lower Right Hand Corner

#1 Tennessee over #2 Texas A&M
•Texas A&M has had an incredible season. They're shooting first and asking questions later. It's true, they lost seven games, the most of any of the Elite 8 teams, but look at this record - 5-4 against ranked teams. They won the Big 12. It was a great season. But it ends here. Tennessee was 11-2 against ranked teams. One of those losses was at Staford in overtime. The other was to LSU on February 14th. The Vols haven't lost since.

Final Four

Nothing but one seeds! I tried to take a couple of two-seeds, and it could very well happen, but I just couldn't justify it as I thought I could.

#1 UConn over #1 Maryland
•UConn plays better defense. They allow 10 fewer points per game and they both played tough schedules and are great teams.

#1 Tennessee over #1 UNC
•In their only meeting this year, Tennessee won 83-79 at home. It's going to be a high-scoring game, which favors the Vols because UNC needs to play good defense to win. No one will match Candace Parker when it's close and late.

Championship Game

#1 UConn over #1 Tennessee
•Another new match up for UConn. They haven't seen Candace Parker this year, and maybe the absence of Kalana Greene (and Mel Thomas) will finally catch up to the Huskies? Nope. Maya Moore and Tina Charles will take care of Parker. Not that they'll stop her, but the opposite is true as well. Another great game. It could go either way.

So, I said it before and I'll say it again. Starting with the Elite 8, the Women's NCAA Tournament is going to have the most compelling basketball out there. Watch it or miss out on the best sports of the year.

Baseball Broadcasts

2008-03-19T18:53:00.003-05:00

Miss my voice already? You're in luck! UTPA baseball broadcasts begin tomorrow.

You can hear all the games at audiosportsonline.net

Thursday, March 20th vs Houston Baptist - 6:05 p.m.
Friday March 21st vs Houston Baptist - 2:05 p.m.
Friday, April 4th vs New Orleans - 6:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 5th vs New Orleans - 3:05 p.m.
Sunday, April 6th vs New Orleans - 1:05 p.m.

Pre-game coverage begins 15 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.

Pick Tracker #1

2008-03-19T01:35:00.001-05:00

I hope you've all enjoyed my picks so far. If you agree, disagree or have any opinions at all, feel free to comment on the posts. The Women's NCAA Tournament picks will be coming later today. In the mean time, here's an update on how my picks are looking so far:

Men's NCAA Tournament:
Play-In Game - CORRECT

Men's NIT:
Round One - 7/8 on Tuesday with eight games left to play today.
Mistake - #6 Akron beat #3 Florida State 65-60 in overtime. It was a great game. Anybody could have won it.
Effect - I had Florida State beating UMass in a classic offense vs defense battle. UMass should roll past Akron, though. I don't mean to show disrespect to Akron, it was a good road win, but I don't think they'll do it twice. That will pit UMass against Syracuse in the Elite 8 in the Carrier Dome. I'll still take Syracuse, but it'll be a tight one.

CBI:
Sweet 16 - 3/4 on Tuesday with four games left to play today.
Mistake - Ohio beat Brown 80-74 in Ohio thanks to a second half comeback. I didn't think Ohio had it in them. Brown senior guard Damon Huffman went out on an incredible note, with 39 points, but it wasn't enough. It's funny, if I'd made the CBI, Brown would have been in, not Ohio, yet Ohio was the higher seed. Based on what, I have no idea. Maybe the home court was the defining factor.
Effect - I had Brown beating Bradley in the Elite Eight and falling to Tulsa in the Final Four. Now I'm probably going to take Bradley over Ohio, despite the fact that Ohio beat Brown. I'll take Tulsa over either of them in the final four, though.

Women's NIT Picks

2008-03-18T19:46:00.001-05:00

Normally I would do the Women's NCAA Tournament first, but since the National Independent Tournament starts tomorrow night and the Big Dance doesn't start until Saturday, this comes first. Unlike the men's NIT, this one is still 48 teams with 16 teams getting first round byes, giving us two rounds of 32. It's not straight-seeding, as the selection committee did their best to limit the travel of teams in this tournament, which makes sense considering budgets and academic restrictions.

The interesting thing about this NIT is that it's much deeper than the men's NIT. Women's basketball has a sharp divide between the top echelon of teams and everyone else. You have your Rutgers, Tennessee, UConn, UNC and other such teams. Then you have everyone else. So while the NCAA Tournament's going to be a battle of the top couple of seeds, anyone really can win the NIT.

So without further ado... the picks:

First Round

Upper Left Hand Corner

Prairie View A&M over Texas State
•After narrowly falling to Jackson State in the SWAC Championship game, Prairie View takes its 21 wins to the NIT. Gaati Werema and Chari Smith form a front court duo that not only dominated the SWAC, but will carry this team far. They combined for 23.4 points and 14.4 rebounds per game while blocking 81 shots. They can also run interference for Candice Thomas who averages 15.2 points per game and like to attack the basket on the dribble drive. They don't shoot the three well (.295), but no one's going to be able to stop the inside attack. Certainly not Texas State had a big Southland season, going 14-2 in conference before getting blown out by Texas A&M Corpus Christi 106-88 in the first round of the conference tournament. They had swept Corpus pretty handily during the regular season, so that brings up questions about Texas State's ability to step up when it matters most.

Boise State over Idaho State

Gonzaga over UC Davis

Villanova over American

Bottom Left Hand Corner

South Dakota State over Creighton

Drake over Wisconsin-Green Bay

Middle Tennessee State University over Western Carolina
•This isn't an upset, but it's going to be a great game. Both of these teams have a lot of different scoring options, but MTSU's Amber Holt stands out above the rest at 27.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. MTSU is also better defensively, allowing just 63.8 points per game, those W. Carolina only allows two more points than that. However, their scoring differential is exactly the same at 8.7. I think Holt's going to take over the game and MTSU will win.

James Madison over Radford

Upper Right Hand Corner

Charlotte over Virginia Commonwealth University

Southern Mississippi over Arkansas-Little Rock

Evansville over Southeast Missouri
•Again, not an upset, but I went to give kudos to SE Missouri for rebounding from a five-game losing streak to win 19 of their final 22 games. Still, those loses were during the only tough part of their schedule.

Bowling Green over Dayton
•Also not an upset. Bowling Green won 10-straight before an impromptu exit to Ohio, 68-66 in overtime in the conference tournament. This will be a very even game, but I'll give the home court edge to Bowling Green.

Bottom Right Hand Corner

Quinnipiac over Iona

Vermont over Dartmouth
•Not an upset. Watch out for Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis. She might be the best player on the planet (with apologies to Candace Parker). It took Boston University double-overtime to stop Vermont in the America East semifinals. Look for the Catamounts to make a run.

North Carolina A&T over South Carolina
•Only my second upset pick of the first round, and with good reason.The Agies were 25-7 and won the MEAC regular-season title. The Gamecocks struggled to a 4-10 SEC record and finished 15-15. A&T is hot. South Carolina is not.

Florida Gulf Coast over South Florida
•Not an upset, but I didn't realize FGC could play in the post-season. As a provisional team they were ineligible for the NCAA Tournament and the Atlantic Sun tournament, despite finishing second. Last year they played for the Division II NCAA Championship. They only use six players and are heavy on the guard play, but they're smart. FGC doesn't get into foul trouble and they're well conditioned. Look for them to make a run as well.

Second Round

Upper Left Hand Corner

Prairie View A&M over Texas Tech
•Texas Tech has lost four-straight games and nine of their last eleven, so I'm shocked they got a first round bye. Maybe it's their name. Dominic Seals and Jordan Murphee are a formidable front court duo, and like Prairie View, they can't shoot the three (.289), but I just don't see Tech getting off the mat in this game. I expect them to be over-matched right away.

TCU over Boise State
•TCU got the first round bye and was quite the bubble team for the Big Dance. They're looking good in this tournament.

Gonaga over Colorado
•Gonzaga only lost twice in 2008, going 16-2. That last loss was 70-66 to San Diego in the championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament. So close to the NCAA Tournament. Colorado, on the other hand was one and done in their conference tournament, and after a 12-2 start, finished 4-12, including a 5-11 mark in the Big 12.

Wisconsin over Villanova

Bottom Left Hand Courner

Marquette over South Dakota State
•No one has been hotter than South Dakota State, they've won 12-straight games, but it ended there because they're a provisional member of the Summit League and therefore couldn't take part in the conference tournament, despite a 16-2 mark. They finished 23-6 over all, with a fine 8-6 road record. Four player in double-figures and six with at least 8.1 points per game mean they have options. Marquette's over all record isn't as impressive (16-14, 12-3 home), but they had a much tougher schedule. They put scares into #23 Arkansas (71-69 loss), #5 Rutgers (65-61 loss) and #23/24 Syracuse (70-67 loss) while beating #23/22 DePaul (65-56) and #23/21 Pittsburgh (76-69). They're also beat Wisconsin, Dartmouth and Villanova before losing to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Conference Tournament 73-69. I want to pick the upset, but Marquette could win the whole tournament and South Dakota State hasn't played since March 3rd, so I think they're going to cool off.

Illinois over Drake

Kentucky over MTSU

Indiana over James Madison

Upper Right Hand Corner

Michigan over Charlotte
•Unless they don't get any offensive rebounds.

Mississippi State over Southern Mississippi

Kansas over Evansville

Michigan State over Bowling Green

Bottom Right Hand Corner

St. John's over Quinnipiac

Vermont over Boston College
•Vermont is as deep as they come, and if it wasn't for the perfect machine known as Hartford (who Vermont beat 69-66 at home during the regular season), and a double overtime loss to Boston University in the America East semifinals, they would have gone dancing and maybe gotten the same #10 seed. They beat St. John's. who got a first round-bye, 66-48. After winning conference rookie of the year last year, Courtnay Pilypaitis won America East Player of the Year this year. She scored 16.7 points per game, and 20.3 in conference. She also averaged 7.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Her .827 free throw percentage is lower than I expected to see, because she has ice water in her veins. If there are fans swing dancing right in front of her, she doesn't see them (unlike her teammates... again... semifinal loss to BU). Amy Rosenkrantz and May Kotsopoulos join Pilypaitis as great scoring guards while Kelli Poles is an imposing force down low. Vermont beat BC last year, and to tell you the truth, I didn't think BC was going to the post-season this year. The Catamounts will roll.

NC State over NC A&T

Florida Gulf Coast over Florida
•After rolling to the National Independent Tournament Championship, don't expect Gulf Coast to stop now. They've won seven-straight and 16 of 17. Delia De La Torre is a beast, scoring 14.7 points per game and ripping down 6.0 rebounds, and really, that doesn't even begin to describe how good she is. They're a very smart and well-coached basketball team who hit the Division One stage in November and went 21-8 while going 12-3 in the Atlantic Sun as a provisional member (meaning they couldn't take part in the conference tournament or the NCAA tournament). Florida has a solid team, but fewer options and they've been inconsistent since January 10th.

Sweet 16

Upper Left Hand Corner

TCU over Prairie View A&M
Wisconsin over Gonzaga

Bottom Left Hand Corner

Marquette over Illinois
Indiana over Kentucky

Upper Right Hand Corner

Mississippi State over Michigan
•Mississippi State had 463 offensive rebounds this, 39.1% of their total. They also out-rebounded opponents on the offensive glass 463-376. Michigan at 253 offensive rebounds while allowing 389. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Now, in case you didn't click the link above...

Michigan State over Kansas
•Kansas collapsed under the weight of top conference games. Michigan State didn't. Now when the going gets tough for Kansas in the NIT? Season's over.

Bottom Right Hand Corner

Vermont over St. John's
•The Red Storm are quite the team, and they'd be near the top of America East instead of an also-ran in the Big East. But at best they're an even match-up for Vermont, and Carnesseca Arena isn't a tough place to play. Also, Vermont beat St. John's 66-48 in November.

Florida Gulf Coast over NC State
•NC State had a solid year and they're in an even bracket with close losses to St. John's and Boston College (followed by a big win over BC later in the season). They even played #3 UNC to a 79-70 loss. I think Florida Gulf Coast has more depth, though. Odd to say when the Eagles only use six players, but NC State only has two big threats and two moderate threats. I think it'll be a great game, but I'll take Gulf Coast in a squeaker.

Elite 8

Upper Left Hand Corner

TCU over Wisconsin

Bottom Left Hand Corner

Marquette over Indiana

Upper Right Hand Corner

Michigan State over Mississippi State
•Allyssa DeHaan is a woman among girls. 14.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.0 blocks per game. She also led the team in free throws made (101), attempted (119), and percentage (.849) while shooting a team-best .484 from the field. She's going to have giant game.

Bottom Right Hand Corner

Vermont over Florida Gulf Coast
•This is where the Florida Gulf Coast Cinderella story ends and Vermont's continues. The thing about Gulf Coast is that they don't have a lot of size or go-to players, but their serious six are often enough. They won't be against Vermont, a team that can go 11 deep without losing much, if anything, on the court. They have more size and talent as well.

Final Four

Marquette over TCU
•This is going to be one of the best games of March. Two extremely talented teams that could have been in the Big Dance and done well there. Marquette has experience playing evenly with the top teams in the nation. TCU's 21-11 record is impressive, but who did they play? Exactly. They're not a bad team, but Marquette is better.

Vermont over Michigan State
•Talk about a packed final four. Michigan State has talent, but they lost to Hartford 54-51 earlier this year and Vermont was 1-1 against the Hawks. Vermont has more talent and they're deeper.

Championship

Vermont over Marquette
•This was a tough one to pick, but at this point I'm looking at depth. Krystal Ellis and Angel Robinson can't do it all. Courtnay Pilypaitis, Amy Rosenkrantz, May Kotsopoulos, Tonya Young and Kelli Poles can. And if they can't, they have plenty of help off the bench.

CBI Picks

2008-03-18T13:41:00.002-05:00

The College Basketball Invitational is the brand new post-season tournament. Haven't heard of it? Don't feel bad. Neither has anyone else. I heard about it in November (or was it October?), but that's my job. This tournament takes 16 teams, but doesn't employ a true bracket. The teams will be re-seeded for the Final Four and the Championship is best-of-three. For the top seed it goes home-road-home and it's all done in five days.

First I'm going to comment of the format. It's insane. I don't like the re-seeding because it puts uncertainty into who you're going to play, but I can live with it. My major problem is that Championship format. I don't expect them to play at a neutral site or anything, but to expect student athletes to take that much time off of school? It needs to be one game. The travel is going to be hectic, and with the uncertainty of three games, how are you supposed to figure out travel plans? What if the match-up is UTEP against Virginia? Those are two very difficult places to travel to. Do you make the reservations then cancel them if there's a sweep? Most airlines charge a fee for that. Do you wait until you know you're going? You might not be able to get in on such short notice. This is ludicrous. I have no problem with this in a professional format where they charter planes and don't have classes to attend. Get it over with. Don't make the students tell their professors that they might have to miss another class because of some ridiculous format. I can't imagine it would go over too well at Brown...

I have no problem with the CBI adding 16 more teams to the post-season since we would have lost 16 teams due to the men's NIT shrinking from 48 to 32 teams this year. I do have a problem with some of the teams they chose, though. When the CBI was first announced, they said they were going to take deserving snubs. Teams with winning records only. They did hint towards taking big-name schools that had terrible years but normally play post-season basketball, but I thought maybe they'd come to their senses after the season. Apparently, I was wrong, and the folks at Western Michigan agree.

I can think of a bunch of teams that should have comprised this field:
UTPA
Portland State
IUPUI
Utah State
Western Michigan
Sam Houston State
Wright State
Valaparaiso (they're actually in it!)
Niagara
Wagner
Utah (they're in it)
Georgia
UTEP (they're in it also!)
Brown (them too!)
Wake Forest
Tulsa (yep yep!)

Look, the only teams I really have a problem with are Ohio, Cincinnati, Rider, Old Dominion, Richmond, Virginia, Nevada, Houston, Bradley, UTEP and Washington. Oh, wait, that's most of them.

Oh well. What's done is done. Here are my picks:

Sweet 16

West

Valaparaiso over Washington
Houston over Nevada

East

Virginia over Richmond
Old Dominion over Rider

South

UTEP over Utah
Tulsa over Miami (Ohio)

Midwest

Bradley over Cincinnati
Brown over Ohio

Elite 8

West

Valaparaiso over Houston

East

Virginia over Old Dominion

South

Tulsa over UTEP

Midwest

Brown over Bradley

Final Four

The seeds aren't really clear, so I'm not sure who will play who, so I'm going to do it by top and bottom.

Valaparaiso over Virginia
Tulsa over Brown

Championship

Tulsa over Valapraiso in three games.

Men's NIT Picks

2008-03-18T02:36:00.001-05:00

The National Invitational Tournament has a lot of different names by those who think it's a joke. It's like the consolation bracket. Does anyone honestly know who plays in the NIT? Well, besides fans of those teams (and even then)? I'm not sure.

I'll never forget my freshman year at Boston University. The men's basketball team won 23 of 24 games, including 21-straight at one point, to close out the season and earn the top seed in the America East Conference Tournament (which they also happened to be hosting). They got upset by Stony Brook in the first round and instead of a possible 10-seed in the Big Dance, they got a bid to the NIT where they opened at the University of Rhode Island and lost badly. I was a studio analyst for WTBU's broadcast of that game. I was working with two other people, and neither of them wanted to be there. From accounts I received, it looked like the players didn't want to be there either. After all, they were supposed to be in the NCAA Tournament. Who cares about the NIT? It's not the same. It's like a tie in hockey or kissing your hot sister. How are you supposed to feel about that?

I wanted to work that broadcast and I was excited that the Terriers were playing post-season ball. Only about a third of the teams in the NCAA get to compete in post-season ball. I know that seems like a lot, but when you compare that to other sports, it really isn't. 53.3% of NBA and NHL teams go to the playoffs. 57.1% of WNBA teams play post-season ball. 37.5% of NFL teams and 26.7% of MLB teams go to the playoffs. In the men's NCAA, 113 of the 341 teams now play post-season ball (65 NCAA, 32 NIT, 16 CBI). That's 33.1%, or less than four of the five major sports. On the women's side, 112 of the 338 teams play in the post-season (64 NCAA, 48 NIT). That's also 33.1%.

Some people say we have too many teams playing post-season ball. I say it's just right.

Now, without further ado... My picks for the NIT:

Round of 32

Upper Left Hand Corner

#1 Ohio State over #8 UNC Asheville
#5 New Mexico over #4 California
•Cal looked like a lock for the NCAA Tournament before an absolute collapse down the stretch. They've won once over the last month, an 84-81 win in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament against Washington. Look, they were 14-7 on February 7th and then collapsed. The Golden Bears were horrific in conference (6-12). Ryan Anderson is great (21.3 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game) and they have plenty of scorers. On the flip side, New Mexico went 24-8, losing two-straight three times, but never more. This team fell in overtime to NCAA-bound BYU, 70-69, on February 26th, and then beat NCAA-bound UNLV 59-45 in their next game. They lost in the first round of their conference tournament against Utah, 82-80 in overtime, but that was after beating Utah twice during the season, so I call it a hiccup, nothing more. This team could be considered a snub and they were certainly under-seeded in this tournament. Seven players are averaging at least 7.1 points per game for the Lobos. SEVEN! Look out for New Mexico.

#3 Dayton over #6 Cleveland State
#2 Illinois State over #7 Utah State

Lower Left Hand Corner

#1 Virginia Tech over #8 Morgan State
•I was very tempted to pick this upset. Morgan State narrowly missed an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it was not to be.
#4 Virginia Commonwealth University over #5 University of Alabama Birmingham

#3 Nebraska over #6 UNC-Charlotte
•I think Charlotte is a better team with Leemire Goldwire (19.0 ppg) and Lamont Mack (12.8 ppg), but I don't think anyone's going to beat the Huskers in Nebraska. They were 16-3 at home this season, 11-0 out of conference. Charlotte was 4-7 on the road. Nebraska has already sold over 3,500 tickets.
#2 Mississippi over #7 UC Santa Barbara

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 Arizona State over #8 Alabama State
#4 Southern Illionis over #5 Oklahoma State
•Oklahoma State's five-headed scoring attack of James Anderson, Byron Eaton, Terrel Harris, Obi Muonelo and Marcus Dove combine to average 55 points per game. How many of them can you really stop? I'm stuck on this, though. OSU was 2-8 on the road while Southern Illinois was 12-3 at home. That's the thing about the NIT. When you're playing at home sites instead of neutral sites, upsets are harder to come by.

#3 Creighton over #6 Rhode Island
#2 Florida over #7 San Diego State

Lower Right Hand Corner

#1 Syracuse over #8 Robert Morris
#5 Maryland over #4 Minnesota
•The Terrapins were only 5-4 on the road, but considering that's 4-4 in the ACC, I call that battle-tested. They will dominate the paint with an attack of Greivis Vasquez (17.3 ppg) and James Gist (15.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 71 blocks).

#3 Florida State over #6 Akron
#2 UMass over #7 Stephen F. Austin
•Remember when Stephen F. Austin was one of the last undefeated teams? Well, that certainly didn't work out as well as they planned.

Sweet 16

Upper Left Hand Corner

#5 New Mexico over #1 Ohio State.
•Talk about hostile environments, but I think New Mexico is good enough to overcome it. Ohio State's Jamar Butler is a quality guard, but he can't take over a game with three-point shooting and Kosta Koufos isn't Greg Oden. I think Ohio State will jump out to an early lead, but after New Mexico settles down with a timeout, they're gonna quiet the crowd and run away with it.
#2 Illinois State over #3 Dayton

Bottom Left Hand Corner

#1 Virginia Tech over #4 VCU
#2 Mississippi over #3 Nebraska

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 Arizona State over #4 Southern Illinois
#2 Florida over #3 Creighton

Bottom Right Hand Corner

#1 Syracuse over #5 Maryland
#3 Florida State over #2 UMass
•It's a classic offense vs defense battle. UMass has a high-octane offense led by Gary Forbes (20.1 ppg) and Ricky Harris (17.9 ppg). Forbes (7.9 rpg, 23 blocks) and Etienne Brower control the inside game while Brower (12.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 43 blocks) has also become a big three-point threat as well (.442). But while the Minutemen score 82 points per game, the Seminoles only allow 69.1 per game while putting together a balanced offensive attack (five players with at least 9.7 points per game).

Elite 8

Upper Left Hand Corner

#5 New Mexico over #2 Illinois State
•I keep saying it. I'm high on New Mexico. Illinois State went 15-1 at home this season (the loss was to Drake), but that was against weak competition. The Redbirds haven't had many challenges this season. I smell home loss number two.

Bottom Left Hand Corner

#1 Virginia Tech over #2 Mississippi

Upper Right Hand Corner

#1 Arizona State over #2 Florida

Bottom Right Hand Corner

#1 Syracuse over #3 Florida State
•Florida State has a lot of weapons, but Syracuse has more. And it's in freezing Syracuse, NY. Not warm Florida.

Final Four (@ Madison Square Garden)

#1 Virginia Tech over #5 New Mexico
•The wild ride finally comes to an end for New Mexico. Virginia Tech will be getting all the cheers in this game. They're the sentimental pick, and the MSG crowd has already seen them twice. The Hokies dominated the MSG Holiday Tournament this year, beating Hofstra 84-59 before downing St. John's 54-48.
#1 Syracuse over #1 Arizona State
•New York is Orange Country. This will NOT be a neutral site. Not even close. Oh, and Syracuse just played here in the Big East Conference Tournament. Think revenge is on their minds?

Championship Game

#1 Virginia Tech over #1 Syracuse
•I'm not making this pick for the sentimental reasons, though I think they will play a factor. It'll be the extra edge, the adrenaline that pushes the Hokies over the top. Both of these teams can score, but look for Jeff Allen (12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 35 blocks, 62 steals) to have a big game for Virginia Tech.

Men's NCAA Tournament Picks

2008-03-17T17:25:00.008-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again. The field of 65 has been announced and now everyone in the known universe is going to fill out 148 different brackets so they have a better chance of being right. Well, I'm only going to fill out one. I will justify all of my upset picks and a few of my non-upset picks too. NIT, CBI, Women's NCAA and WNIT to follow before the games begin.

So, without further ado...

The play-in game - Mount St. Mary's (18-14, NEC Champs) vs Coppin State (16-20, MEAC Champs). I'm going to take Mount Saint Mary's. Don't get me wrong, Coppin State has been white-hot, winning 12 of their last 13 games, but the NEC is a tougher conference (not by much, but by enough) and I'm not not about to pick a 20-loss team to win a game.

By the way, I think it's insane that two conference winners have to take part in a play-in game. I think if you win your conference, you deserve to be in the top 63, no matter what. Otherwise what was the point of the conference? I'm okay with the idea of a play-in game (or even increasing to four of them), but I think it needs to be for bubble teams like Syracuse, Ohio State and Florida (all NIT-bound), not for conference winners.

Round of 64

East

#1 UNC over #16 Mount Saint Mary's
#8 Indiana over #9 Arkansas

#5 Notre Dame over #12 George Mason (sorry, no Cinderella this year)
#13 Winthrop over #4 Washington State
•Washington State got off to a great start (12-0 non-conference), but went just 12-8 in the PAC 10. Now, that's a very strong conference, but I think Washington State was really just coming back down to earth. Winthrop averaged 38.6 rebounds per game while Washington St. averaged just 31.8. Winthrop also averaged 8.5 steals per game, compared to 6.2 by Washington St. Now, Winthrop has weaknesses. They don't shoot as well as their opponent, that's for sure, especially from the free throw line where they ended up at just 59.5%. But I'm only picking them to win one game, so I'll give them a pass there.

#11 Saint Joseph's over #6 Oklahoma
•Senior Pat Calathes - 17.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. This man dominates the inside. He's up against freshman Blake Griffin, who averages 15 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, but I'll take the experience in this match up. The Hawks have the Sooners beat in almost every head-to-head match up as well:
Points - 73.3 over 68.4
Assists - 14.9 over 12.5
Blocks - 4.7 over 3.9
Steals - 7.2 over 6.6
Turnovers - 12.7 over 12.9
Field Goal % - 47.7 over 44.2
3PT FG% - 38.5 over 34.8
Free Throw % - 72.6 over 68.1
So really, there wasn't much doubt in my mind about this one.
#3 Louisville over #14 Boise State
•This isn't football.

#7 Butler over #10 South Alabama
#2 Tennessee over #15 American

Midwest
#1 Kansas over #16 Portland State
#8 UNLV over #9 Kent State

#5 Clemson over #12 Villanova
#4 Vanderbilt over #13 Siena

#6 USC over #11 Kansas State
•I know a lot of people are going to pick this upset, but USC holds opponents to 38.6% shooting. I know Kansas State beat Kansas early in the conference season, but the second time didn't quite work out that way and the Wildcats finished third in the Big 12 - a good conference, sure, but 5-5 down the stretch doesn't cut the mustard with me and I can't name anyone on that team besides Michael Beasley. Nice freshman phenom, but the Trojans have one of their own in O.J. Mayo, so please, temper your enthusiasm for Kansas State.
#3 Wisconsin over #14 Cal-State Fullerton

#10 Davidson over #7 Gonzaga
•Gonazaga is always the Cinderella story, despite their constant appearances. They never finish the job, though. This year, though, Davidson is wearing the glass slipper. They almost beat both Duke and UNC and went 20-0 in conference, which is an unfathomable feat since conference teams are supposed to be on-par and more familiar with the teams the play twice per year. Stephen Curry averages 25.1 points per game, which is more than twice as much as the leading scorer on Gonzaga. This one might not be close.
#15 UMBC over #2 Georgetown
•Never heard of the University of Maryland at Baltimore Country? Now's the time to learn. I'm very high on Jay Greene. He's a Paul Stoll-type point guard, averaging 7.3 assists per game. The leading floor general on Georgetown was Jessie Sapp at 3.3! Roy Hibbert averaged 13.6 points, 6.5 rebounds. Not bad, but Darryl Proctor averaged 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Ray Barbosa averaged 16.9 points per game to lead the team. Hibbert is big, but he's not dominant. 2.3 blocks per game? UMBC's Cavell Johnson did the same thing. Georgetown hit a Big East Tournament record 17 three-pointers to beat Villanova. Still, they only shot 38% from deep for the season while UMBC was at 39.3%. Give me the upset. Mark my words, it's going to happen.

South
#1 Memphis over #16 UT-Arlington
#8 Mississippi State over #9 Oregon

#5 Michigan State over #12 Temple
#4 Pittsburgh over #13 Oral Roberts

#11 Kentucky over #6 Marquette
•It's incredible to think that Kentucky finished 2nd in the SEC after that 6-7 start, isn't it? I know Patrick Patterson is hurt and won't be a factor anymore, but I think they're going to feed off the adversity for a couple of days, at least.
#14 Cornell over #3 Stanford
•Cornell also went undefeated in conference, going 14-0 to win the IVY League. I know, I know. It's the IVY League, but you know what? It's so hard to go undefeated in conference. Second place in the Pac-10 is nothing to sneeze at and Brook Lopez might be unstoppable (19.2 points, 8.5 rebounds per game), but I like the Big Red to ride their momentum to an upset over their west coast counterparts. Two schools with high academic standards. This game is about more than just basketball.

#10 St. Mary's (CA) over #7 Miami (FL)
•You'll have to excuse me if I think the fifth best team in the ACC is just a bit overrated. 8-8 in conference? St. Mary's was 12-2. People were a lot higher on St. Mary's earlier in the year than they are now, but Miami was never on my radar screen.
#2 Texas over #15 Austin Peay

West
#1 UCLA over #16 Mississippi Valley
#8 BYU over #9 Texas A&M

#5 Drake over #12 Western Kentucky
#4 UConn over #13 San Diego

#6 Purdue over #11 Baylor
•I initially thought I'd never pick Purdue after their loss to Wofford in the Vegas tournament back in December, but they've been great all season and Baylor finished 5-8 after that 5OT win over Texas A&M. It was that game that made people high on Baylor, but let's be honest, they might not really belong here.
#3 Xavier over #14 Georgia
•Only one team in the nation had SIX players averaging double-figures scoring. Care to guess which one? (Hint: It's Xavier)

#10 Arizona over #7 West Virginia
•Jerryd Bayless and Nic Wise are both healthy, and Arizona was 15-6 when they were both in the lineup. Look, West Virginia's win over UConn in the Big East Tournament impressed me, but remember two years ago when Boston College ALMOST beat Duke in the ACC Championship game and everyone was suddenly so high on BC and they were done quite quickly? One game isn't enough for me to pick the Mountaineers. Bayless averaged 20 points per game while Wise dishes out 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Honestly, though, this is just a battle for the right to lose to Duke.
#2 Duke over #15 Belmont
•But let's not forget, Belmont won at Alabama in November. I guess that didn't end up meaning anything.

Round of 32

East

#1 UNC over #8 Indiana
#5 Notre Dame over #13 Winthrop

#3 Louisville over #11 Saint Joseph's
#2 Tennessee over #7 Butler

Midwest

#1 Kansas over #8 UNLV
#4 Vanderbilt over #5 Clemson
•This is going to be a great game. CBS might even show the whole thing! The blind numbers suggest Vanderbilt should win this game, but the Commodores went 5-7 on the road. Clemson's a little more battle-tested at 8-7 on the road. However, you figure it'll be a close game late, and Vanderbilt shot 73.6% from the line compared to Clemson's 62.4%. Vanderbilt also shot 40.4% from the behind the arc compared to Clemson's 37.7%. So who would you take close and late? Sorry Coach Martin.

#3 Wisconsin over #6 USC
#10 Davidson over #15 UMBC

South

#1 Memphis over #8 Mississippi State
#4 Pittsburgh over #5 Michigan State
•Another great game coming here, but Pitt knows what it takes after their come-from-behind overtime win against Duke in December.

#11 Kentucky over #14 Cornell
#2 Texas over #10 St. Mary's (CA)

West

#1 UCLA over #8 BYU
#5 Drake over #4 UConn
•This was a tough one to decide. I've seen both of these teams in person. Adam Emmenecker is an outstanding point guard and Coach Keno Davis is the deserving Coach of the Year. This team lost four games all year. One was at St. Mary's (CA), 72-66, a tough road game against an up-start team. The other three losses were by a combined seven points. 65-52 at Southern Illinois, 72-71 vs Bradley, and 86-83 at Missouri State in the final game played at the 32-year old John Q. Hammons Student Center (which I think is an incredible arena. It's a crying shame that they're going to play somewhere else next year). The Bulldogs had four players in double-figures scoring all season, five if you only go by conference statistics. That means they have a lot of options, making them tough to close-out. That's why I don't think UConn can beat them. When I saw UConn win at UCF 85-82, UConn was up 80-69 with 1:26 to play. Should've been over, right? Well, the Huskies had to escape with the victory. I don't think they're going to be able to escape in the tournament.

#3 Xavier over #6 Purdue
#2 Duke over #10 Arizona

Sweet 16

East

#1 UNC over over #5 Notre Dame
#2 Tennessee over #3 Louisville

Midwest

#1 Kansas over #4 Vanderbilt
#10 Davidson over #3 Wisconsin
•I think they're finally going to get that big victory. Davidson almost beat Duke and UNC. This will be their first real test of the tournament. Simply put, their time has come, for one more game, anyway.

South

#1 Memphis over #4 Pittsburgh
#2 Texas over #11 Kentucky

West

#5 Drake over #1 UCLA
•This is about as even of a statistical match-up as you'll find. UCLA has the edge with 3.7 blocked shots per game against Drake's 2.5, but the Bulldogs with 11.7 turnovers compared to 12.4 by the Bruins. Not big differences anywhere. Look, Kevin Young's a first-team All-American and each of these teams top fives are evenly matched. I think neither team has a great deal of bench depth (just because they haven't needed them). Most people would take UCLA easily in this game, but I'm taking Drake in a squeaker.
#3 Xavier over #2 Duke
•This was certainly no easy pick either, but Xavier has seven legitimate scoring options, six of whom are in double-figures, and Duke just doesn't have that kind of depth.

Elite 8

East

#1 UNC over #2 Tennessee

Midwest

#1 Kansas over #10 Davidson

South

#2 Texas over #1 Memphis
•Memphis was 16-0 in conference and 10-0 on the road while going 33-1 overall, but it ends here. Texas was a far better free throw-shooting team (68.9-59.6%) and better from downtown as well (38.5-35%). At this point in the tournament, if you can't hit your free throws, you're not going to San Antonio.

West

#3 Xavier over #5 Drake

Final Four

#1 UNC over #1 Kansas
•Honestly, you could go either way on this pick and not be wrong.
#2 Texas over #3 Xavier
•The Longhorns were 21-2 at home this season while the Musketeers were 8-4 on the road. Neutral site? Yeah right. The Alamodome is going to be packed with Texas fans. Austin is a short drive from San Antonio. There's something funny about Texas going to the title game the year AFTER they had Kevin Durant.

National Championship Game

#1 UNC over #2 Texas
•Texas was 21-2 at home, but UNC was 13-0 on the road. Those Longhorns fans aren't going to bother the Tarheels, who figure to have quite a few fans themselves.

Drop the Lady or Add the Gentlemen

2008-03-10T23:57:00.002-05:00

Today I attended a "MANDATORY Non-Discrimination/Sexual Harassment Awareness Seminar." Apparently it's mandatory for all new employees at UTPA to attend this within 30 days of being hired. 30 days, 130 days... what's the difference? Anyway, one finally fit into my travel schedule today (that's what happens when the season ends) so I attended. Comments about how I found part of the seminar offensive and discriminatory (oh the irony!) aside, it got me to thinking how ironic it is that the school is worried about making the employees aware of discrimination but doesn't seem to realize the blatant and disgusting discrimination going on year round on the courts and fields. I'm talking about the existence of the "Broncs" and the "Lady Broncs."

For those who don't know, athletic teams at UTPA are split up into two categories. You have the men's teams, which get to use the school's mascot, the Bronc, without any modifier. Then there are the women's teams, which are known as the "Lady" Broncs.

So I am going to say it now for all to hear - drop the "Lady" or add the "Gentlemen."

Wait, what are you talking about?

Why should women's sports need a qualifier? Why do we have to call them the "Lady" Broncs?

So we know if you're talking about the women's teams.

So why don't we call the men's teams the "Gentlemen" Broncs?

Well that would be plain stupid.

Wait, say that again.

That would be stupid?

Exactly. Then why are we calling women's teams the "Lady" Broncs? Why not the Broncs?

Because they're different. They're women.

Maybe we should make "Lady" Broncs sit in the back of the bus and drink from different water fountains too. And we can have them wear patches that say "Lady" on them

Why would we make them do that?

I wish I had an answer to that. There are a lot of things that don't make sense to me, and this is one of them. Look, let me put it another way. I'm a human. My mother is also a human. Do I call her a lady human while others just call me human, though? I don't think so.

Adding the word "Lady" to the mascot is incredibly sexist and politically incorrect. It's like saying that female athletes are not good enough to be Broncs, but the men are. How come they're not the "Gentlemen" Broncs? Either modify the Broncs for both sexes or drop it all together. This isn't just for the Broncs, this is for ALL schools that allow such disgusting sexism to exist. This includes, but is not limited to, Tennessee (who actually has separate sites for men's and women's athletics! Look at the URLs. Incredible) and Baylor.

Putting a qualifier in front of the mascot suggests that somehow the female athletes are inferior. Is that the message we want to send?

The woman who led the seminar said, "it's 2008 and we're still dealing with these issues." She made it seem unbelievable. I share that feeling, except it's happening right under our noses and no one seems to notice or care.

Ever notice that I have never, not once, ever, called them the "Lady" Broncs? Every women's basketball game I did I called them the Broncs. If I needed to differentiate them, then I called them the Broncs women's basketball team. Simple as that.

Only one school can get away with calling their women's teams "Ladies" - Centenary College. Their men's team are "Gentlemen." Click here to see why.

So I can live with that. But that's where I draw the line. End the sexism. It's 2008. We're supposed to be enlightened. How on earth are we still allowing this? It's a horrible, disgusting joke. Except for one difference. It's not funny.

I support the Broncs. All of them. Without qualification. Unequivocally.

#1 UVU vs #5 NJIT

2008-03-08T17:24:00.000-06:00

The game started late. There was some confusion over the start time. It was supposed to be 3:05. It started at 3:35. That means the following games will be starting later. Same schedule as the first two days I guess. Probably 5:50 and 8:05. Check back for updates.

Final Score:
UVU (0-3) - 72
NJIT (2-1) - 77

Big NJIT Run Beats Broncs

2008-03-07T22:05:00.003-06:00

NJIT ended the game on a 22-4 run over the final 7:37 (or a 20-2 run over the final 6:24), coming from behind to beat the Broncs 59-49 tonight.

So here's what we have for Round Three:

Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Utah Valley (0-2)
Game Eight (Chamionship) - Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Chicago State (1-1)

Game times are 3:05, 5:20 and 7:35 p.m.
Pre-game coverage begins at 7:20 pm for Broncs-Cougars.

Another Upset

2008-03-07T19:52:00.003-06:00

Down goes #1 Utah Valley... again! #4 Cal-State Bakersfield with the 76-53 win, despite being down by as many as 15 (28-13) in the first half. So here's what we're down to for tomorrow as the Broncs get ready to tangle with NJIT:

If UTPA Wins:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)
Game Eight - Chicago State (1-1) vs Utah Valley (0-2)
Game Nine - UTPA (2-0) vs Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) - CHAMPIONSHIP

If NJIT Wins:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Utah Valley (0-2)
Game Eight - Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1) - CHAMPIONSHIP
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Chicago State (1-1)

Game times are 3:05, 5:20 and 7:35

#2 Florida Gulf Coast vs #3 Chicago State

2008-03-07T17:12:00.001-06:00

Final Score
FGC - 58
CS - 48

Florida Gulf Coast goes to the Championship tomorrow at 5:20 p.m. or 7:35 if they're playing UTPA

Coming up at 5:47 p.m. (5:35 pre-game) - #4 Cal State Bakersfield (0-1) vs #1 Utah Valley University (0-1). You can hear it online at www.gorunners.com. I'll have the play-by-play and UTPA men's assistant coach Ben Johnson will have the color commentary.

Then at 8:05 (7:50 pre-game) - #6 University of Texas Pan-American (1-0) vs #5 New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-1). I'll have the play-by-play on both ESPN Radio 1240 AM and audiosportsonline.net. If UTPA wins they go to the Championship at 7:35 p.m.

PLEASE NOTE THAT UTPA'S GAME WILL BE AT 7:35 P.M. TOMORROW NO MATTER WHAT

Upset City!

2008-03-06T23:53:00.002-06:00

The Broncs beat Utah Valley 71-64 in round one of the National Independent Tournament.
Tamara Vaughn had a huge game, her best of the season, and the Broncs had maybe their best defensive game of the year. I have so much to say, but I'm exhausted and have a ton of prep work to do.

So here's what you really want to know:

Day One:
Game One - #3 CS 65, #4 CSUB 62
Game Two - #2 FGC 75, #5 NJIT 63
Game Three - #6 UTPA 71, #1 UVU 64

Day Two:
Game Four - Florida Gulf Coast (1-0) vs Chicago State (1-0) - 3:35
Game Five - Utah Valley (0-1) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (0-1) - 5:50 (really started at 6:00 today)
Game Six - UTPA (1-0) vs NJIT (0-1) - 8:05 (really started at 8:15 today)

Day Three:
If Utah Valley, Florida Gulf Coast & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (0-2)
Game Eight - Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) vs UTPA (2-0)
Game Nine - Utah Valley (1-1) vs Chicago State (1-1)

If Utah Valley, Florida Gulf Coast & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Chicago State (1-1)
Game Eight - Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) vs Utah Valley (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (0-2)

If Utah Valley, Chicago State & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Utah Valley (1-1)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Chicago State (2-0)
Game Nine - Cal-State Bakersfield (0-2) vs Florida Gulf Coast (1-1)

If Utah Valley, Chicago State & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (0-2)
Game Eight - Utah Valley (1-1) vs Chicago State (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Florida Gulf Coast (1-1)

If Cal-State Bakersfield, Florida Gulf Coast & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Florida Gulf Coast (2-0)
Game Nine - Chicago State (1-1) vs Utah Valley (0-2)

If Cal-State Bakersfield, Florida Gulf Coast & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Utah Valley (0-2)
Game Eight - Florida Gulf Coast (2-0) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Chicago State (1-1)

If Cal-State Bakersfield, Chicago State & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Utah Valley (0-2)
Game Eight - Chicago State (2-0) vs UTPA (2-0)
Game Nine - Florida Gulf Coast (1-1) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)

If Cal-State Bakersfield, Chicago State & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Cal-State Bakersfield (1-1)
Game Eight - Utah Valley (0-2) vs Chicago State (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

#2 Florida Gulf Coast vs #5 NJIT

2008-03-06T18:16:00.037-06:00

Final Score
Score:
FGC 75
NJIT 63

Ivana Seric fouled out for NJIT at 13:47. Fouls are 12-8 NJIT in the half, 19-13 in the game.

FGC picked up it's first foul of the half at 10:50 - on Ashley Haegele.

FGC has five players in double-figures scoring while NJIT has four.

It looks like the Broncs game will be starting a couple of minutes late, but not by much. Maybe 8:15 instead of 8:05. Not bad at all. My pre-game will probably start a few minutes late. Probably between 7:55 and 8:00.

Here's the set-up for tomorrow:
Game 1 - 3:35 - #2 FGC vs #3 Chicago State
Game 2 - 5:50 - #1 UVS vs #4 Cal-State Bakersfield
Game 3 - 8:05 - #5 NJIT vs #6 UTPA

The Great Escape

2008-03-06T18:07:00.002-06:00

One game in the books - #3 Chicago State took a huge lead early, leading by 15 at half-time, and survived a furious rally by #4 Cal-State Bakersfield to escape with a 65-62 victory.

This is why statistics lie.
Rebounds
CS 50 (21 offensive), CSUB 31 (13 offensive)
CS 41.7 FG%, CSUB 33.9 FG%
CS four treys, CSUB one trey

If I told you all those numbers you'd probably be thinking blow out, right? It certainly looked like it would be that way until Kelley Tarver started drawing countless fouls after constant Chicago State turnovers (26 for the game). Tarver was 16-18 from the line and the Roadrunners were 17-22 in the second half, 23-31 for the game (compared to 11-17 by the Cougars). Proof positive that free throws really can decide games. Well, I guess they didn't, but they almost did.

So what does this mean for the "bracket"? Nothing yet.

Stay tuned for the outcome of the Florida Gulf Coast-NJIT game.

National Independent Tournament "Bracket"

2008-03-04T16:30:00.005-06:00

The National Independent Tournament is getting close. Nine games, six teams, three days, one winner. Ever wonder how something like that could possibly work? I know I did. Then I was suddenly in charge of making it work, so I figured it out.

Here are the rules:
1) #5 and #6 Seeds must go 2-0 to play in championship
2) No Rematches
3) Cannot have three 2-0 teams
4) Championship Game at 5:20 p.m. on Day Three
5) UTPA plays at 8:05 p.m. on days one and two, 7:35 p.m. on day three unless in Championship

Game Times:
Day One and Two - 3:35, 5:50, 8:05
Day Three - 3:05, 5:20, 7:35
There must be 30 minutes between games

Here are the seeds:
1) Utah Valley University
2) Florida Gulf Coast University
3) Chicago State
4) Cal-State Bakersfield
5) New Jersey Institute of Technology
6) University of Texas Pan-American

Now, day one is easy enough.

Game One - #3 CS vs #4 CSUB
Game Two - #2 FGC vs #5 NJIT
Game Three - #1 UVU vs #6 UTPA

Day two isn't too bad either, there are only four scenarios. However, each of those four branches off into eight scenarios for day three. So, there are 32 different possibilities for the makeup of day three. Ready to see all the different scenarios? Of course you are, or so you think. First, please let me alert you to the emergency exits located here, here and here. If you are pregnant or have a heart condition, please consult with a doctor before strapping in for this ride. Keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and please, no flash photography. In case of a water landing, please be advised the life rafts are in the ceiling and doors, your cushion can be used as a flotation device, and there is a life vest underneath your seat. Should your head begin to spin, it's normal, just pull the emergency brake and parachute off the ride before it's too late. So buckle your seatbelt and pull down that flimsy bar we claim locks into place and will hold you in, but we might be wrong, here's to hoping.

And now, without further ado (you named a next of kin, right?), 32 scenarios for your viewing pleasure:

Day Two (First Scenario):
If FGC & UVU Win:
Game Four - FGC (1-0) vs Winner Game One (1-0)
Game Five - UVU (1-0) vs Loser Game One (0-1)
Game Six - UTPA (0-1) vs NJIT (0-1)

Day Three:
If FGC, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs FGC (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If FGC, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs FGC (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)

If FGC, Loser Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Eight - FGC (2-0) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If FGC, Loser Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Eight - FGC (2-0) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If Winner Game One, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs UVU (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

If Winner Game One, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs UVU (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs FGC (1-1)

If Winner Game One, Loser Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

If Winner Game One, Loser Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Eight -Winner Game One (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs FGC (1-1)

Day Two (Second Scenario):
If NJIT & UTPA Win:
Game Four - FGC (0-1) vs Loser Game One (0-1)
Game Five - UVU (0-1) vs Winner Game One (1-0)
Game Six - UTPA (1-0) vs NJIT (1-0)

Day Three:
If FGC, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - FGC (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If FGC, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - FGC (1-1) vs Winner Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - NJIT (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

If FGC, Winner Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - FGC (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - UVU (0-2) vs NJIT (1-1)

If FGC, Winner Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - UVU (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - NJIT (2-0) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

If Loser Game One, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - Loser Game One (1-1) vs NJIT (1-1)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Nine - FGC (0-2) vs UVU (1-1)

If Loser Game One, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - FGC (0-2) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - NJIT (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

If Winner Game One, Loser Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - FGC (0-2) vs UVU (0-2)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - Loser Game One (1-1) vs NJIT (1-1)

If Winner Game One, Loser Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - FGC (0-2) vs UVU (0-2)
Game Eight - NJIT (2-0) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

Congratulations! You've reached the half-way point. Bon Jovi would be proud.

Day Two (Third Scenario):
If UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Four - FGC (0-1) vs Loser Game One (0-1)
Game Five - UVU (1-0) vs Winner Game One (1-0)
Game Six - UTPA (0-1) vs NJIT (1-0)

Day Three:
If FGC, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs FGC (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)

If FGC, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - FGC (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs NJIT (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)

If FGC, Winner Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs FGC (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)

If FGC, Winner Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - UVU (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs NJIT (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs FGC (1-1)

If Loser Game One, UVU & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - Winner Game One (1-1) vs NJIT (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (0-2)

If Loser Game One, UVU & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - FGC (0-2) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (2-0) vs NJIT (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

If Loser Game One, Winner Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - UVU (0-2) vs NJIT (1-1)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs FGC (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

If Loser Game One, Winner Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - Loser Game One (1-1) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs NJIT (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (0-2) vs FGC (0-2)

Day Two (Fourth Scenario):
If FGC & UTPA Win:
Game Four - UVU (0-1) vs Loser Game One (0-1)
Game Five - FGC (1-0) vs Winner Game One (1-0)
Game Six - UTPA (1-0) vs NJIT (0-1)

Day Three:
If UVU, FGC & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - FGC (2-0) vs UTPA (2-0)
Game Nine - UVU (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If UVU, FGC & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - FGC (2-0) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)

If UVU, Winner Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs UVU (1-1)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - Loser Game One (0-2) vs FGC (1-1)

If UVU, Winner Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Loser Game One (0-2)
Game Eight - UVU (1-1) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

If Loser Game One, FGC & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UTPA (2-0) vs FGC (2-0)
Game Nine - Winner Game One (1-1) vs UVU (0-2)

If Loser Game One, FGC & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs UVU (0-2)
Game Eight - FGC (2-0) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs Winner Game One (1-1)

If Loser Game One, Winner Game One & UTPA Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (0-2) vs UVU (0-2)
Game Eight - Winner Game One (2-0) vs UTPA (2-0)
Game Nine - FGC (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)

If Loser Game One, Winner Game One & NJIT Win:
Game Seven - NJIT (1-1) vs Loser Game One (1-1)
Game Eight - UVU (0-2) vs Winner Game One (2-0)
Game Nine - UTPA (1-1) vs FGC (1-1)

(Yes, there is a one in 32 chance that an 0-2 team will make it to the championship, but based on the rules, it's the only option. That's what we call protecting the #1 seed. Here's to hoping it doesn't happen...)

Congratulations! You made it to the end. And in one piece too! Now wasn't that easy?

It's tourney time. Get psyched and follow all the action either at the UTPA Fieldhouse in person, or join me on ESPN 1240 AM and audiosportsonline.net First round coverage beings at 7:50 p.m. with the pre-game. The opening tip is at 8:05.

Also be sure to check this blog during other games of the tournament as I will keep you up to date on all nine games and potential changes in start time.

If you want to listen to any Cal-State Bakersfield games, I will have the call of those as well via www.gorunners.com. UTPA men's assistant coach Ben Johnson will be joining me. Should the Broncs meet the Roadrunners on day three, the game will be on ESPN and audiosportsonline as usual.

The first broadcast will be on Thursday at 3:35, 3:20 pre-game, as the Roadrunners take on Chicago State.

--

I also want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my Dad. Today he turned... well... it doesn't matter what he turned. Age is a state of mind. So really, my dad's only 26. And really, he doesn't look a day over 46.

Here's to the man that always played catch with me for five more minutes, even though he'd lost feeling in his right hand because it was so cold; even though dinner was ready; even though it was so dark that neither of us could see the ball anymore. Without him, I may have never gotten into baseball, which means I would have never gotten into sportscasting and discovered my love of broadcasting basketball. Imagine that? All for the love of five more minutes.

The Key of C

2008-03-02T12:20:00.002-06:00

This blog post is brought to you by the letter C and the number 3.

The C stands for Cinthia Ramirez. The senior guard averages 14.9 minutes and 1.4 points per game. She is just 6-18 from behind the arc this season. It's a shame yesterday's 63-56 win over Houston Baptist doesn't count in the statistics.

It was a senior day exhibition that was scheduled in-part so the Broncs would have a weekend home game to celebrate, and in-part so they wouldn't have nearly two weeks off until the National Independent Tournament.

It was a send-off Ramirez won't soon forget, as she scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (2-4 from behind the arc) with 5 assists, two rebounds and a steal in 32 minutes of action. All of those numbers are well above her season averages.

Each three-pointer was huge. The first came in the opening minutes as the Broncs built a 20-8 lead. The second was in the second-half to help hold off the Huskies' furious comeback bid.

The number 3 is for Tiona Wilson. The senior guard, who wears number three, hit a big three-pointer with about 1:15 remaining, beating the shot-clock buzzer, to give the Broncs a nine-point lead. The Huskies proceeded to hurry up and miss a lay-up. They would never threaten again. Wilson hit three treys in the game, but that was the dagger. Wilson also ended up with 11 points and seven assists.

Of course, we mustn't forget about LeKeisha Gray's efforts, leading the team with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

If you add in Tamara Vaughn's two points and two rebounds, the seniors combined for 37 points, or 58.7% of the Broncs total. They also had 14 rebounds - 41.2% of the total.

The seniors also ended up with 17 of the Broncs 20 assists (85%) and three of the six steals (50%).

The performance of the seniors underscores how much they will be missed next year, but it's too early to think about that. It really underscores how important they will be in the NIT this week.

We know Gray and Wilson will get the chance to do the same things they did yesterday, but will Ramirez? Given more playing time, it's possible Ramirez could have a huge impact on the Broncs chances to win the crown.

--

It was also good to see Danielle Kostacky get some playing time, even if it was only six minutes. We hadn't seen her in a few weeks due to an injury, but she's apparently healthy now, and the Broncs need all the front-court depth they can get.

--

As I write this, Kentucky is leading #1 Tennessee 57-56 with 4:27 to play on the men's side.
Don't anybody ever tell me that a game is over before it begins. Anybody can beat anybody else on any given day. Remember, Gardner-Webb beat Kentucky earlier in the season. So maybe Gardner-Webb could beat Tennessee. Why not? We see upsets in sports all the time. Don't be surprised if this is the year a 16 beats a 1 in the NCAA Tournament.

18 Going On 28

2008-03-01T17:17:00.003-06:00

On Thursday the Broncs men's basketball team ended their season with a win by beating Savannah State 78-68. So an excellent season ends with 18 wins, 11 of which were on the road, not to mention a four game winning streak. The Broncs won 11 of their last 14 games and finished with the best record in Independent Basketball. The seniors went out on a high note with three of them scoring in double-figures in that last game.

The Broncs overcame suspect officiating and a hostile crowd to become one of the few teams to end the season with a win.

So it was a great season, and to think, they could have had even more wins! The Broncs lost four one-possession games (Pepperdine, Western Illinois, Bethune-Cookman and UT-Arlington). So one different bounce of the ball and maybe the Broncs win 22 games. Well, maybe 21. If the Broncs beat Bethune-Cookman, they would've had to play Wofford instead of Texas Southern, but I think the Broncs would've won that game. If the Broncs beat Pepperdine, however, they would have had to play Montana State instead of Alcorn State. Montana State beat Pepperdine handily, but Pepperdine was winning big in the first half, so maybe the Broncs could have done the same and held on.

The Broncs had every opportunity to beat Missouri State, down 50-48 with 3:08 to play, before falling short. The Broncs led the Northwestern game for most of the first 30 minutes before falling victim to a late rally. The Broncs played a close game against Alabama too, only losing by 10 and traling just 40-34 at half-time. The Broncs were within six (76-70) against Long Island University with 3:58 remaining (though a win there would've forced a match-up with UCF instead of NJIT the next day. Remember, though Broncs head coach Tom Schuberth was an associate head coach at UCF for four years before coming to UTPA. Maybe that would have helped). The Broncs trailed 81-79 with 2:32 left in the home loss to Chicago State. The other game the Broncs could have won was against UNC-Greensboro when the Broncs led 30-29 three minutes into the second half.

Why am I bringing this all up? The Broncs only got blown out three times - vs Texas State, @ Drake and @ Tulsa. They had a chance to win the other 10 games they lost.

So 18 wins, but maybe it could have been 28 (or at least 26). To have an opportunity to win that many games is incredible. That's Duke/Memphis/Tennessee/Texas (or whoever) territory there.

18 wins. Not a lot of teams end up with that good of a record. 92 teams in the NCAA, including UTPA, have 18 wins or more. That sounds like a lot, but it's only 27% of all DI teams (341).

Only three teams (0.88%) have 26 wins or more:
Memphis 28-1
UNC 27-2
Butler 27-3

Why do so few teams win so many games? Because you need to get all the breaks. You can't have a bad bounce, and hey, this is sports. Luck giveth and it taketh awayeth.

So I offer a toast to the Broncs. An incredible season to remember. I am privileged to have been a part of it.

--

There will be about a million more post-season posts coming, so don't go away. I'll also have a post about today's women's win coming up later today or tomorrow.

Milestone Update

2008-02-28T11:14:00.004-06:00

Just a few hours until the UTPA Broncs men's basketball season finale at Savannah State (tonight at 6:50, 5:50 pre-game on ESPN Radio 1240 AM and audiosportsonline.net), I figured I should update you on all those season and career milestones that I put in a previous post.

Before I get to that, though, I am going to give you something to chew on.

Broncs Road Record (as far back as I can find online... the media guide doesn't differentiate between home and road games)

Year Rd, Neu, Away, Total
07-08: 5-6, 5-4 = 10-10

06-07: 2-12, 1-1 = 3-13
05-06: 1-15, 1-1 = 2-16, 5-29
04-05: 1-13, 0-0 = 1-13, 6-42
03-04: 4-10, 0-1 = 4-11, 10-53

02-03: 2-10, 0-7 = 2-17, 12-70
01-02: 5-8, 3-0 = 8-8, 20-78
*Note - The Broncs won 20 games, not 21, during the 01-02 campaign.

So, what this all amounts to is:

•The same number of total wins away from the UTPA Fieldhouse this year as over the last four years combined (and a chance to pass that total with a win tonight).

•More Road wins this year than over the last three.

•More Neutral site wins this year than over the last five.

Kudos to Jim Lancaster (Associate Athletic Director and head trainer) for suggesting I look this up.

Now, without further ado... The milestone watch:

Single-Season Milestone Watch
▪ - Paul Stoll is fourth in three-pointers at 82. Brian Merriweather (00-01) is third (108).

▪ - Brian Burrell ranks fifth with 211 three-point field goals attempted, 11 shy of Kevin Mitchell (02-03), who attempted 222. Stoll can join the top 10 by attempting five more treys to match Lalo Rios' (96-97, 97-98) marks of 181.

▪ - Stoll's 218 assists are good for sixth all-time. Mike Carroll (79-80) is fifth with 236 and fourth (80-81) with 275.

▪ - If the season ended today, Stoll's .466 3PT% would rank fourth while Dexter Shankle's .459 clip would be fifth.

▪ - Stoll's .851 FT% would tie him for seventh with Sergio Sanchez (04-05) and Charles Ray (86-87).

▪ - Stoll's 76 steals are tied for seventh with John Wilbanks (76-77). Next is Mire Chatman (00-01) with 78, followed by Greg Black (93-94) who had 82.

▪ - Nathan Hawkins is tenth with 209 free-throw attempts. Bruce King (73-74) is ninth with 212. Melvin Thomas (89-90) is eighth with 213. Walter Thompson (59-60) is seventh with 216. Fred Taylor (69-70) is sixth with 218.

▪ - Zach Trader is tied for sixth in minutes played with Lalo Rio (98-99) at 1,011. If Trader plays his average 34 minutes tonight, he will finish at 1,035, placing him third behind just Mike Carroll (1,057 in 80-81) and Mitchell (1,072 in 02-03). Stoll (995) and Burrell (991) are knocking on the door of the top-10 most minutes played list. Merriweather (98-99) saw 1,004 minutes.

Career Milestone Watch
▪ - Brian Burrell ranks third in three-pointers made with 154, trailing Lalo Rios' (95-99) total of 207.

▪ - Dexter Shankle has hit 130 threes, placing him sixth, just four back of Kevin Mitchell (01-03) and John Braxton (98-01)

▪ - Paul Stoll ranks seventh in three-pointers with 128, trailing Shankle by two.

▪ - Burrell has attempted 414 treys, ranking him third behind Rios' 651.

▪ - Shankle has shot 343 threes, placing him seventh. Next is Mitchell's 351.

▪ - Stoll boasts the highest three-point shooting percentage (minimum 250 attempts) at .448, well ahead of Lee Boddie's (87-90) .408.

▪ - Stoll's 372 assists rank him sixth behind Rios' 444.

▪ - Zach Trader is eighth in free throws with 291. Next is Kevin Johnson (84-88) at 302.

▪ - Trader's 389 free throw attempts are tied for seventh with Kevin Johnson (84-88). Melvin Thomas (87-90) is sixth with 458.

▪ - Trader is eighth in minutes played at 2,503. Braxton ranks seventh (2,612).

We're Going to State!

2008-02-25T16:23:00.003-06:00

(2:10-2:22)

It came down to the wire, but we're headed to Savannah State! They signed the contract last night. So it'll be a show down on Thursday night, 6:05 p.m. CT start, 5:50 pre-game show, as the Broncs men's basketball team looks for win number 18. Catch all the action on ESPN Radio 1240 AM or audiosportsonline.net.

"This is not just a victory for freedom. It is a victory for hope." - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (Victory Speech, November 6th 2007... What can I say? I'm a proud user of Xerox).

Burn The Jerseys!

2008-02-25T01:18:00.001-06:00

With the University of Texas Pan-American Broncs women's basketball team's 69-58 loss at Cal-State Bakersfield last night, the Broncs finish 0-11 on the road. Factor in the 1-1 record at neutral sites, the Broncs were 1-12 away from the UTPA Fieldhouse.

There might be many different reasons for the Broncs going 9-4 at home but finding themselves unable to win on the road.

•Opponents? The Broncs did have to play at #9 Baylor and Texas.

•The hectic travel? Keep in mind the fact that it's not easy to travel out of McAllen. It's always a flight before sunrise and a connection in Houston or Dallas. It's quite demanding.

•The lack of UTPA broadcaster accompanying them? Seemed like a good enough theory until last night when I finally got to do a road game.

These are all nice theories (one of which makes me look quite egotistical), but I have a better one. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I give you:

THE TALE OF THE BAD LUCK JERSEYS

It was a dark and stormy night over the summer, and the Broncs were trying to figure out what to do for road jerseys this season. The home jerseys are easy. White with some forest green and orange mixed in.

The men were planning to use forest green jerseys on the road and the women didn't want to copy them, so that logically left orange. But who wears orange jerseys?

Well, how about black? That's not a UTPA color.

The Broncs decided to get two road jerseys - a black set and an orange set. The problem with that, though, was the Broncs never got a chance to get comfortable in either. The jerseys rebelled, angry at being shared, and refused to provide the same basketball power as the home whites.

The orange and black were also jealous that the home whites made an appearance in the neutral site win against Troy in December.

And hey, with Forest Green getting top billing as far as school colors go, is it any surprise that the men's basketball team is currently 10-10 away from the UTPA Fieldhouse?

There is only one solution. The total, absolute and complete destruction of the women's current road jerseys followed by the adoption of the same color uniforms the men have.

While I'm at it, I am going to enter a general plea to the men's team to keep the forest green uniforms. No need to slide backwards in the win column next year, after all.

Savannah State Update

2008-02-24T16:09:00.003-06:00

I think the UTPA men's basketball game at Savannah State on Thursday will be a go. I sent an e-mail with the link to the Monitor's story to Paula Jackson, the Interim Athletic Director over at Savannah State. She thanked me for brining the issue to her attention (apparently, she didn't know about it). She also said the issue "has been addressed and taken care of."

I hope that means we have a game. I think so. I will confirm this when I can and post an update once I know for sure.

Get Out Those Brooms

2008-02-23T13:02:00.003-06:00

Well, the University of Texas Pan-American Broncs men's basketball team finally swept a team that's not winless. After a shaky first half, the Broncs stormed out of the gates in the second half to end up with a 67-60 victory over Cal-State Bakersfield.

How happy were the Broncs to get the sweep and win #17? After the game they were hugging each other and the Broncs fans in the stands; giving high-fives too. All of them, including the coaches, congregated longer than usual outside before heading back into the locker room for debriefing. They were also out of there very quickly.

We ate post-game meal at Red Lobster and I've never seen head coach Tom Schuberth smile so much after a win. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that could've been the last game, and if it was, the Broncs become one of the few teams in the nation to end the season with a win.

Major props to the Broncs women's basketball team. They play at Cal-State Bakersfield tonight (9:01 start, 8:46 pre-game), and from what I've heard, they skipped practice to come to the game. I'd say it made a difference last night. They were so loud throughout the game that they really made their presence known. Some of those Broncs even ended up on the jumbotron at Rabobank Arena because they were dancing during a timeout.

Now, you might be saying, that's great that they went, but shouldn't they have practiced and worried about their own game first? Maybe, but the way I see it, at this point in the season, one practice isn't going to make the difference between winning and losing a game. They have shoot-around today, and don't worry, they'll be ready for the Roadrunners. Remember, the Broncs played this team once already, and though the Broncs lost, they have a better idea of what to expect this time around.

Savannah State Game In Danger

2008-02-21T22:09:00.004-06:00

The University of Texas Pan-American Broncs are scheduled to end the season on Thursday, February 28th at Savannah State. There's just one [not-so] minor problem - Savannah State never signed the contract.

During the fall, Broncs head coach Tom Schuberth and Tigers head coach Horace Broadnax decided to play a game at the end of the season. It made sense. Both teams had the ability to play one more game and both had everyday after February 22nd available (when teams in conferences have three or four games left before their conference tournaments and potential post-season tournaments). The Tigers beat Stetson 63-60 in overtime on Tuesday and the Broncs play at Cal-State Bakersfield tomorrow night. Originally, that is how both teams were going to end their seasons.

The Broncs were hoping this match up could get them an extra home game. After all, they only had ten all year. After some negotiation, the coaches agreed to play in Savannah, Georgia this year, and Edinburg, Texas next year. The contract includes a $50,000 buyout if either team decides they don't want to play next year.

Coach Schuberth wrote up a contract and sent it to Coach Broadnax before the season began. All Broadnax had to do was sign it and the agreement would be official.

Here we are, months later, a week before the scheduled game, and the contract has not yet been signed. Coach Schuberth has been unable to get in-touch with Coach Broadnax recently to find out what's going on. Nice to see Savannah State is taking this seriously, huh?

After going 0-28 three years ago, the Tigers should be happy anybody wants to play them. Plus, we all know how hard it is for an Independent team to schedule games.

If the Tigers want to continue being a DI team (and you can bet the NCAA wouldn't mind seeing a few teams, especially those without a conference, drop down), they should learn to take these matters seriously. Do you think Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzewski would ever pull something like this?

Now, it's possible that Coach Broadnax isn't lazy or forgetful. Perhaps he's devious. If the Broncs play the game without a contract, then they have no guarantee that Savannah State will come to the UTPA Fieldhouse next year or pay the program $50,000. Maybe the Broncs destroy the Tigers on the court, so Savannah State decides they don't want a rematch. Without a contract, the Broncs are out of luck.

Broadnax probably thinks it's a given that the Broncs will come since they've already booked 19 plane tickets. They could change the dates and destinations of those tickets and use them anytime in the next year, but there would likely be a fee involved.

Theoretically, the Broncs could call off the game and then Broadnax could sign the contract. Then what? I honestly have no idea. I don't know what kind of language is in the contract or the potential legal implications. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Obviously the situation is a mess, but lost in all of this is the uncertainty surrounding the seniors on both teams. The Broncs have six seniors and the Tigers have five. Explain to me how it's fair that the Tigers' seniors don't know if they've played their final game and the Broncs' seniors don't know if the road ends in Cal-State Bakersfield.

The Broncs players know what's going on. I am writing this during what could be their final practice of the season, and that's how they're treating it. Senior guard Paul Stoll told me earlier that he's treating tomorrow's game like it's his last, and if they get another game, it's just icing on the cake. So at least if it truly ends tomorrow, the Broncs will be prepared.

Do you think the Tigers seniors had that mindset for their game against Stetson? I have no idea. I can't imagine how horrible it would make them feel to think they have a game left, then go to practice to prepare for UTPA, and be told to clean out their lockers.

Won't anybody think of the players?

So here's to hoping the contract dispute is resolved post-haste and we get one more game for the 11 seniors on these two teams. They deserve it. Just let them play.

The Sparkling Apple Cider is On Ice

2008-02-21T00:44:00.005-06:00

Time to pop that cork and celebrate. Let’s setup a photo-op on an aircraft carrier where University of Texas Pan-American Broncs men’s basketball head coach Tom Schuberth can get out of a fighter jet and give a thumbs up. After all, Mission Accomplished, right? Well, not quite. The Broncs have met one of their goals. The Broncs will finish with the best record in independent basketball, no matter what. But why stop there? If the Broncs win their last two games, they will finish with a .500 record against Division One opponents, which is certainly no small feet for a program on the rise. Also, the Broncs don’t want to celebrate being the best independent team by getting in the back way. They want to celebrate with a win.

Make no mistake, the Broncs will be getting rings for their accomplishments and they deserve them. The Broncs have a lot to be proud of this season, but a team as focused as this one isn't going to start thinking about that until they're out of games.

I'm not sure if I've ever been around a team as uniformly focused as this one. You never hear them talk about the game after the next one or anything like that. They make the cliché true - the most important game is the next one.

They also treat every game as an important one, no matter what the outside meaning might be. They play to win. At this point you could very easily ask what they have to play for. A .500 record against DI teams? Who cares. The over all record is all that matters. No one remembers the DI record.

Here's why the games matter. There are only two left. Six seniors have 80 guaranteed minutes of basketball left. They play for love of the game. Isn't that why we get into sports? For fun? To play? The first time I shot a basketball was probably in a driveway. Not because I wanted to be in the NBA someday, but because it was fun. I'm guessing that's how most people start. Maybe the games are "meaningless" in terms of connotations, but you'll have a hard time convincing me or anyone on this team of that.

---

If that doesn't work for you, maybe personal milestones will.

Single‐Season Milestone Watch
▪ ‐ Paul Stoll is fifth in three‐pointers at 78, one shy of Kevin Mitchell (02‐03) and three from Brian Burrell (06‐07). Brian Merriweather (00‐01) is third (108).

▪ ‐ Brian Burrell ranks fifth with 205 three‐point field goals attempted, 17 shy of Kevin Mitchell (02-03), who attempted 222. Stoll can join the top 10 by attempting 12 more treys to match Lalo Rios’ (96-97, 97-98) marks of 181.

▪ ‐ Stoll’s 213 assists are good for sixth all‐time. Mike Carroll (79‐80) is fifth with 236 and fourth (80‐81) with 275.

▪ ‐ If the season ended today, Stoll’s .462 3PT% would rank fourth while Dexter Shankle’s .459 clip would be fifth.

▪ ‐ Stoll’s .845 FT% would rank him ninth.

▪ ‐ Stoll’s 73 steals are tied for eighth with John Wilbanks (77‐78). Wilbanks is also seventh (76‐77) with 76 followed by Mire Chatman (00‐01) with 78.

▪ ‐ Nathan Hawkins is tied for tenth Henry Taylor (76‐77) at 205 free‐throw attempts. Bruce King (73‐74) is ninth with 212.

▪ ‐ Zach Trader (977), Stoll (958) and Burrell (958) are knocking on the door of the top-10 most minutes played list. Billy Bailey (79-80) saw 1,000 minutes.

Career Milestone Watch
▪ ‐ Brian Burrell ranks third in three‐pointers made with 154, trailing Lalo Rios’ (95‐99) total of 207.

▪ ‐ Dexter Shankle has hit 130 threes, placing him sixth, just four back of Kevin Mitchell (01‐03) and John Braxton (98‐01)

▪ ‐ Paul Stoll ranks seventh in three‐pointers with 124, trailing Shankle by six.

▪ ‐ Burrell has attempted 408 treys, ranking him third behind Rios’ 651.

▪ ‐ Shankle has shot 343 threes, placing him seventh. Next is Mitchell’s 351.

▪ ‐ Stoll boasts the highest three‐point shooting percentage (minimum 250 attempts) at .444, well ahead of Lee Boddie’s (87‐90) .408.

▪ ‐ Stoll’s 367 assists rank him sixth behind Rios’ 444.

▪ ‐ Zach Trader needs to hit one more free throw to tie Marshall Rogers (74‐76) for eighth with 289. Next is Kevin Johnson (84‐88) at 302.

▪ ‐ Trader’s 385 free throw attempts also trail Johnson by four for seventh.

▪ ‐ Trader is eighth in minutes played at 2,469. Braxton ranks seventh (2,612).

---

So, whatever floats your boat, you'll have a reason to celebrate. I highly recommend Martinelli's Gold Medal Sparkling Apple Cider. It's pretty easy to get a good vintage.

---

Programming Note - I will be broadcasting both the men's and women's games at Cal-State Bakersfield this weekend. Both games will be on audiosportsonline.net only. This is the last time we'll be preempted on ESPN Radio 1240 AM this season. The men play Friday and the women play Saturday. Both games start at 9:05 p.m. CT, so pre-game coverage begins at 8:50.

No Revenge Against Corpus

2008-02-18T23:59:00.004-06:00

The UTPA women's basketball team fell to Texas A&M Corpus Christi 60-57 tonight and while it's easy to be disappointed about the final result, a lot went right for the Broncs.

•Robin Garrett broke her career high in points (17) in the first half, finishing with 22. She also ended up with eight rebounds.

•The Broncs out-coached the Islanders. Something that has impressed me about head coach DeAnn Craft all season is her willingness to let players play through foul trouble. After all, you get five fouls in a game, use them! Islanders head coach Robert Robinson benched anyone with two fouls during the first half, forcing his best player (Elisa Beagle) to the bench for significant minutes. Adrienne Scott and Sarah Davidson were also banished to the bench after picking up foul #2. Myeisha Miles got to finish the half with two fouls because there were 40 seconds left and the Islanders were already at four-guard lineup to compensate for the foul trouble. Based on the way Robinson had been running his substitutions, though, I'm surprised Faryn Bills (from McAllen) didn't return to the game. She had actually played a minute earlier in the half before Miles ever touched the court. In the second half, Beagle quickly picked up her third foul, and sat for at least ten minutes before returning. In a game that was always close (only three times was there even a six-point lead in the game), I don't know about keeping your best player on the bench. Again, you get five fouls. Use them! Granted, it worked, but the right strategy doesn't always work. Conversely, the wrong strategy doesn't always fail. Was it the wrong strategy though? I think so. But that's just my opinion. Comment and let me know what you think.

•The Broncs out-rebounded the Islanders 32-29. Even better? 16 offensive rebounds. The Broncs had a ton of chances, but they weren't always able to convert.

So was it all bad? No. Sure, there are negatives.

•This loss guarantees the Broncs will not finish with the first winning season in program history.

•The Broncs shot just 3-18 (16.7%) from behind the arc.

But who wants to focus on that? If you can shoot that poorly from downtown and still have a chance to win, you must be doing something right.

--

For those not in attendance who didn't tune in or tuned out at half-time, you missed Athletic Director Scott Street and Coach Craft honoring Mahogany Daniel (UTPA '07) by framing her #13 jersey and presenting it to her. There was a large crowd (the box score says 734, but that's not even close. Maybe it was 1,734. Maybe my last post got through to some of you?) and Daniel was given a big ovation before joining me for the half-time show (archive available). She's living in Corpus Christi (where she grew up) right now and never misses a UTPA-TAMUCC game, which might be how Craft knew she was coming. Good thing, since no one told her she was getting honored. Imagine if she didn't show up? Still, talk about a pleasant surprise, and a well-deserved one. Daniel is arguably the best forward in program history and a wonderful human being to boot.

--

Did anyone notice that I called them the Broncs and not the "Lady" Broncs? Check back next Monday or Tuesday to find out why.

Broncs Better Bang for Buck than Bees

2008-02-16T23:49:00.002-06:00

Since there are no Broncs basketball games this weekend, I decided to go to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees game tonight. A 4-1 loss at the hands of the arch-rival Laredo Bucks. I paid $21.55 for my ticket and there were 5,129 fans in attendance.

To say the least, the Bees have had a rough season and it didn't get much better tonight. They went with the backup goalie, A.J. Bucchino, who had a rough first period, to say the least. He was cheating to the stick side in the early going, so it's no surprise that the first goal went five-hole. The second goal was on the power play, but with all the rebounds Bucchino was allowing, it's a surprise that a good offensive team like Laredo couldn't make it 10-0.

Bucchino played much better during the next two periods. The defense let him down in the second when Laredo scored the other two goals. It's tough to put the blame on them, though. Each team had 32 shots on goal, but while Laredo's were almost all good shots, the Bees made it nine-straight scoreless power plays and botched four breakaways. And let's not forget when one of the Bees had the puck behind his own net with only one forechecker to beat and decided to ice the puck. That was just one example of the dump and chase hockey that the Bees displayed. It wasn't very physical. Maybe they weren't conditioned well enough. The Bees made line changes at some of the most inopportune moments, when they really needed to keep the attackers on the ice because they had a good chance for a quality shot.

I don't mean to drone on about hockey. That's not what this blog is about. The point that I'm slowly getting to is this - the Bees are easily outdrawing the Broncs despite higher prices for a last place team that hasn't even won one quarter of their games. I don't get it.

You might argue that since there are many options to see basketball in the Valley but only one to see hockey, the Bees are bound to draw more fans. I refuse to accept that. The Broncs men's and women's basketball teams are the only Division One teams south of Corpus Christi. The professional basketball teams are struggling mightily and high school is a completely different animal. Meanwhile, the Broncs men's basketball team has the best record in Independent basketball. The women's basketball team has been playing well at home and is getting ready to host the National Independent Tournament.

Maybe someone can enlighten me. For the price I paid to see the Bees get creamed, I could have gone to a Broncs game, gotten dinner from the concessions stand (where a bottle of water only costs $1), and still had more than half of my money left over.

Another way to put it - you could've gotten Broncs season tickets for as little as $55 each (Winter Texan Package - includes Reserved Seating and a Program for each game). Or you could go to three Bees games for a few dollars more. It seems like a no-brainer to me.

I thought minor league sports were supposed to be cheap. I went to a Florida Marlins game a few years ago, and for $25, sat 14 rows from the field on the first base side. I've also sat in the upper deck behind home plate at Yankee Stadium for $20, not to mention the right field bleachers for $7. To make a hockey comparison, I can get a ticket to a New York Islanders game for $19.

Compared to other local minor league teams, the Harlingen WhiteWings sold tickets for for as little as $2 each last season. The best seats in the house were $7. I hear they're even lowering ticket prices for next season. When was the last time you heard of any team doing that?

Broncs tickets cost:
Reserved - $8
General Admission - $5
High School Students - $3
Seniors - $3
Children 12 and under - $2
UTPA Students and Faculty - FREE!!

The men's basketball team is on the road the rest of the season, but it's not too late to catch the women's team. In fact, you can see them five more times without breaking the bank to do so.

Remaining home schedule:
Monday - Texas A&M Corpus Christi - 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 1st - Houston Baptist (Exhibition, I'm not even sure if they'll charge for admission) - 2:05 p.m.
Thursday, March 6th - National Independent Tournament - 8:05 p.m.
Friday, March 7th - National Independent Tournament - 8:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 8th - National Independent Tournament - 5:20/7:35 p.m.

Note - for the NIT there will be games at 3:35, 5:50 and 8:05 on March 6th and 7th while March 8th will have games at 3:05, 5:20 and 7:35. The other teams participating are Utah Valley State, Florida Gulf Coast, Chicago State, Cal-State Bakersfield, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

So I'll see you Monday at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Unless, of course, you don't like getting the best bang for your buck.

--

Before I sign off, I also want to extend Happy Birthday wishes to Rich Bocchini, the voice of the Killer Bees and Rio Grande Valley Dorados (AF2). The two-time Central Hockey League All-Star Announcer turned 32 on Friday. He is the consummate professional and a real pro. I owe a lot of my recent growth in broadcasting and the Valley in general to Rich. In fact, if it wasn't for a late night phone call from him during the dog days of August, I may have never ended up at Pan-Am.

Rich is also the voice of most of the commercials during my broadcasts and helped me record the ones that feature my voice (including the station ID). If you ever want to hear what an NHL broadcaster sounds like, listen to a Killer Bees game on the radio. No, he's never done a broadcast in the NHL, but he will. If there are any NHL General Managers reading this, you would be foolish not to hire Rich next season, especially if you are the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning.

I have been fortunate to draw on Rich's experience, and while I selfishly want him to stay down here for as long as I'm here so I can continue to learn from him; I hope that he gets his break soon, preferably in Florida, so he can be closer to his daughter.

Stoll to the Show? Why not?

2008-02-14T23:53:00.010-06:00

Well, I've finally decided to start blogging. The University of Texas Pan-American Broncs deserve more coverage and, as voice of the Broncs, it's clearly up to me to provide it. Here I will express my opinions about Broncs basketball (and sometimes other Broncs sports). It won't just be about the games, but about anything I may have an opinion on. Sometimes I'll talk about other things going on in sports as well.

But why choose to start a blog now? Simple. Tonight I did color commentary for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBA D-League) game and we spoke with Broncs men's basketball head coach Tom Schuberth at half time. I asked him if he thought any of his seniors might one day be playing for the Vipers, or anywhere in the D-League for that matter. He talked about how a few of seniors hope to continue to play, including point guard Paul Stoll.

That got me to thinking, why not? Maybe Stoll can even play in the NBA someday.

Think I'm nuts? Well, this isn't just because Stoll just dished out 14 assists and came up with six steals against Cal-State Bakersfield on Tuesday. It's not even because Stoll hit a three-pointer from 40 feet out at the end (reminiscent of Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament against Syracuse).

Stoll has consistently displayed NBA-range from behind the arc, even under pressure, and a great ability to see the entire floor. You might be thinking, sure, him and 100 other players. Maybe Stoll could play in Europe, but not here.

Here's why Stoll can be successful in both the D-League and NBA:

1) The man is playing on a broken foot. He has been since mid-November. He broke it against UNC-Greensboro on November 16th. The next night, he not only played, but dished out a then career-high 11 assists against Harding. Imagine what he'll play like next season when healthy?

2) He's certainly been successful in the NCAA. Stoll leads the nation with 213 assists and is fourth with 7.3 assists per game. He's also tied for third with 73 steals and 15th with 2.5 steals per game. Let's not forget he can shoot the lights out of the ball from anywhere. He's 99-208 (47.6%) over all, 78-169 (46.2%) from behind the arc and 125-148 (84.5%) from the free throw line. Stoll started the 2008 calendar year by hitting 31-straight free throws. He's averaging 13.8 points per game. Stoll scored a career-high 37 points against Houston Baptist on January 22nd and still managed to dish out nine assists. He got a mention on ESPN.com for that. Then Stoll came up with nine steals in the next game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. That's the most by anybody against a DI team this year in the entire NCAA. Stoll was named "Mid-Majority Baller of the Week" for all that. Again, this is all on a broken foot. He should be an All-American, but if he was healthy all year, the numbers would be even better (if that's really possible) and he would be undisputed as an All-American.

3) Jose Juan Barea. The back up point guard on the Dallas Mavericks, who, if given more playing time, could cause the Mavs to give up on trying to find a way to make the Jason Kidd deal complete.

I saw Barea play at Northeastern. He dominated America East for three years and the Colonial Athletic Association for one. Many said he was too small or simply had a mid-major ceiling. He wasn't drafted. Next thing I knew Barea was tearing apart the D-League, averaging a triple-double. The Mavericks had to bring him to the big show and Barea has stuck ever since.

This season Barea has appeared in 35 games, earning nine starts. He's only averaging 1.5 assists per game, but that's in 11.3 minutes. Starting point guard Devin Harris gets three times as much playing time and dishes out 3.5 times as many assists, but that's while averaging 2.38 turnovers per game compared to Barea's 0.80.

What I am saying is, given equal playing time, I think Barea and Harris are essentially the same player. The Mavericks, New Jersey Nets and NBA analysts all seem to agree that Harris will become an excellent point guard with more experience, but he's not there yet and that's why he makes sense for the rebuilding Nets.

So, if Harris is that good, so is Barea, and so is Stoll.

It's true, I've seen Stoll more than I've seen Barea, but I can honestly say I think that Stoll is a better player. I watched Barea torch my Boston University Terriers far too often, but I am proud that an America East product not named Vin Baker made it to the NBA. I have no problem with Barea. It is just my opinion that Stoll is a better player.

Along my line of reasoning, that means Stoll has the potential to be better than Harris and be a starting point guard in the NBA. I don't see why not, though I think Stoll will probably have to start in the D-League. Still, if anyone has the work ethic, ability and desire to continue playing at a high level, it's Paul Stoll.

Mark my words. He'll play in the NBA some day.