Most Exciting Game

I can’t quite remember right now, that cbssportsline feed is off the hook good. However, I do not know if this is weird or normal, but I might have burned myself out these last two days. All the competitive games are running together in my mind as the same.  I will have to go with Siena v. Ohio State just because I remember the two extra sessions pretty well.   They’re fresh in my mind. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania native Ronald Moore hit two clutch shots at the end of both overtimes that had me hollering for joy.  Shortly thereafter a college basketball watching novice near me said “Darnit Siena, they’re screwing up my bracket!”  I looked at the person and scolded them not for the fact they had Ohio State beating Louisville in the next round, but for the fact they pronounced Siena wrong.

Most Surprising Game

None really… until Cleveland State mooned Wake Forest on Friday night, and I mean mooned. It just so happens I picked Wake to go far, Final Four far, championship runner up far.  Anyways.

The Vikings did everything right

Best Individual Performance

I could go with Nic Wise’s 29, Chase Budinger’s 20 points, 8 boards, 6 feeds and 4 swipes, Ben Woodside’s (NDSU) 37, Sherron Collins 32 and 8 dimes, Chris Wright’s (Dayton) 27 points and 10 boards, Taj Gibson’s 10-10 from the field en route to 24 points (3 swats), Greivis Vasquez’s 27, Marcus Thorton’s (LSU) 30, or Dwayne Anderson’s (Nova) 25 on 9-10 from the field (he averages 8.8ppg), but I’ll go with a performance just too improbable to overlook.  And that’s 35 big ones (10 trifectas) in 36 minutes from Roburt Sallie, 6′5 guard from Memphis, averaging 5.4 ppg in 14.7 min/gm. I think Roburt might ask to have a repeat of the pre-game meal before the Maryland game.

Worst Moment

The WWF smackdown of Blake Griffin during the Oklahoma-Morgan State thrilla.  But it gets better, Morgan State players are seen throwing tantrums after the game.

Game I Cared Most About

Michigan v. Clemson.  Always been a  University of Michigan sports fan, can not put a finger on why, but it is what it is. Maybe living in Michigan all my life has something to do with it, just a guess. It also does not hurt that the fine institution accepted me for the fall of 09′.  Big leagues baby.

A Prediction For Round Two
Western Kentucky over Gonzaga. I like WKU’s wing players as well as 6′9 skinny bean Jeremy Evans (190lbs).

Post from: EveryJoe

Round 1 Wrap

Corey, an Oakland University student and the basketball loving dude I mentioned above, is a versatile individual with a keen grasp of what March Madness is all about. Only a versatile person such as Corey would ever actually go through the process of writing something about the Mid-American Conference (MAC). See Corey understands what it means to be a fan of a mid-major basketball. He knows it is not all about rooting for teams to make final fours or to sign phenomenal high school players that will only stay a year or two. It is about finding the right nucleus of overlooked, under-valued players who will stay for FOUR years and help mold and stabilize a good program into a great program. Corey understands college hoops at its most unblemished, purist level.

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This Slipper Is One Size Fits All

This year has been a down one for the Mid-American Conference. Put simply, the programs that gather ‘round the Great Lakes have done nothing but beat up on each other. This isn’t a new phenomenon either. Over the past decade the MAC has slowly taken a backseat in mid-major importance to the sheep-like MAAC, a conference that has two NCAA tourney wins in as many years and boasts a great Siena squad. The MAC, on the other hand, hasn’t posted a victory in the bracket games since Chris Kaman and his Central Michigan squad took down Creighton in 2003. The likelihood that this trend will reverse this year looks bleak.

With that said, there has been some great basketball going on in the MAC this year. We’ve seen teams like Ball State, Bowling Green, and Miami (OH) dominate opponents throughout the season only to falter at some point, pointing to the great amount of parity that exists in the league this year. All of this culminates in the conference tourney, scheduled to begin today (Corey sent this to me early Tuesday) in Cleveland at the House LeBron Built.

Over the next five days expect a mix of mediocrity and excitement from the games at the Q. Sure, there will be some early games that will be sloppy and exhaustive to watch. But the games starting on Thursday will surely bring out some excitement from these football schools as absolutely anything can happen when you are talking about a league without a reliable “top three.” The Akron Zips or the Kent State Golden Flashes have just as good of a chance of coming out victorious as the number one seed Bowling Green. Me, I’m expecting the Buffalo Bulls to parallel the recent success of their football program, which played in its first ever bowl game back in January. For the men’s basketball team, a win here would result in their first ever NCAA tourney appearance. ‘Tis a good time to be a Bull.
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FYI

Every so often Corey will post content on his own site, The Peeking Grizz. A little while ago he wrote about star Oakland University big man Keith Benson. You can access the post here. And while you’re at it, leave a comment for Corey, the post is darn good, I mean, Rush The Court linked to it for cripe’s sake!!

Post from: EveryJoe

You know it is March when…

Key Player- Wayne Ellington. Sure, he can stroke it from just about any area code, but he is lacking elsewhere. You know that when Tyler Hansbrough is a more accomplished ball handler, something has got to change.

Finish- Gotta go out on a limb and say the Final Four. Anything less will be considered an utter failure.

Duke- Recently this team reminds a lot of people of a really good book, a phenomenal book, one they can’t put down for hours and hours. Yet when they do put it down, they feel physically and mentally ill because the ending was so anti-climatic, so wretched, that it reminds them of the Dukie players migration to the pros over the past several years (I am not one of those ‘a lot of people’). The colossal failures of J.J. Redick, Josh McRoberts and Shelden Williams at the NBA level, despite the notion these top of the line studs were supposed to ‘tear it up’, is fantastically ironic.

Am I on the Duke blacklist yet?

Key Player- Brian Zoubek. If the kid can twist free his fist out of his ear and show some intensity, we’ll at least know he’s alive. That would be a decent start.

Finish- Probably a bitch slap from Siena or VCU early on. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

A word on UNC and Duke