Hardly any of you have ever heard of him, but Cal State Northridge coach Bobby Braswell is one of the true class acts in college basketball. Braswell and the Matadors had to overcome an injury to a key player, as well as losing their leading scorer Deon Tresvant. Tresvant was arrested and charged with theft at an electronic store on New Year’s Day, and has been held by the school since then. Tresvant has a preliminary hearing on Monday. So it was gratifying to see Braswell and the Matadors (17-13) defeat the University of the Pacific 71-66 in overtime late last night in Anaheim. The win gave them their first Big West Conference title and a trip to the NCAA’s. I’ve watched Braswell since he was the head coach at Cleveland High... [Read more]

What a night it’s been for Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman. Almost wants to make him forget about the past. Bozeman has been through a lot of crap since becoming the youngest Division I coach to lead a team into the Sweet 16, as he did with California in 1993 at 29. In 1996 he was fired at California after admitting that he spent $30,000 on travel for two years on two parents so they could see their kid, Jelani Gardner play. The brat later transferred to Pepperdine after he and his gold-digging parents complained about his playing time. Other violations forced Cal to forfeit the entire 1994-95 season, and all but two games in the 1995-96 season. Bozeman was even accused of sexual harassment by a student at Cal, but was never charged or... [Read more]

Here’s another one of those cool stories about a team getting invited to the Big Dance for the first time. It’s great to watch all those long-suffering players, coaches, students, fans and alum rush the court after knowing they will play with the big boys for a day or two for the first time. Tears of joy all around from the fans, to the players and the coaches. That’s what it was like today for the Binghamton Bearcats as they defeated defending conference tournament champs, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 61-51 for the American East Conference title. The Bearcats (23-8) have won 11 straight and the 23 wins is a school record since joining Division I in the 2001-2002 season. It was also the first championship of... [Read more]

The Orange, which had one of the most remarkable runs in a conference tournament in recent memory, finally ran out of game tonight in the Big East tournament championship Something finally had to give and it did for No. 18 Syracuse (23-9). It was Louisville’s stiffing defense that helped give the No. 5 Cardinals a 76-66 win for their first Big East title, and probable number one seeding when the brackets are announced on Sunday. Syracuse will no doubt get an invite after pulling off an incredible six overtime win against win against Connecticut on Thursday, and another overtime win against West Virginia less than 24 hours later, before finally being wrestled to the ground by Louisville. It will be a well-deserved five or six days rest... [Read more]

If you’re someone like Maryland, St. Mary’s, Baylor or Penn State, all you needed was for Arizona State to beat USC for the Pac-10 championship, and your chances of getting to the Big Dance were looking good. An Arizona State win and USC goes to the N.I.T. But noooooooooooo! Now the No. 23 Sun Devils loss will have you sitting on pins and needles on Sunday. You’ll have to wait and see if you will be one of the 65 teams to get into the tournament. Your chances became fewer, because the Sun Devils couldn’t hold off USC today in a 66-63 loss USC’s backyard at Staples Center. It was the first Pac-10 championship for the Trojans (21-12), which advances to the Big Dance for the third straight year. The Trojans waited... [Read more]