March 2, 2008 Bracket Projection

1. UNC, Memphis, UCLA, Kansas

2. Duke, Tennessee, Stanford, Louisville
3. Vanderbilt, Texas, Xavier, Georgetown
4. Wisconsin, Michigan St, UConn, Notre Dame
5. Purdue, Butler, Indiana, Marquette
6. Washington St, BYU, Drake, Mississippi St
7. Baylor, UNLV, Gonzaga, Clemson
8. St Mary’s, Pitt, Oklahoma, Miami
9. USC, Arizona, South Alabama, Arkansas
10. WVU, New Mexico, Illinois St, Maryland
11. Davidson, Arizona St, UAB, Kansas St
12. Texas A&M, UMass, Kent St, Ohio St
13. Virginia Tech, VCU, Boise St, Oral Roberts
14. NC Ashville, Cornell, Rider, Cal St Northridge
15. UMBC, American, Belmont, Robert Morris
16. Lamar, Morgan St, Austin Peay, Portland St, Alabama, St.

Holding on by a Thread
Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kansas St, Kent St, Arizona St, USC, UMass, Maryland, Miami, WVU, Illinois St, Ohio St, New Mexico, Virginia Tech

On the Respirator
St Joes, Syracuse, Florida, Rhode Island, Western Kentucky, Ole Miss, Houston, Temple, Southern Illinois, Kentucky, Winthrop, Villanova

Ticket Punched

Cornell

Points Anyone?

This week has been the week of individual performances. You have 1 player score more then 50-points in a single game, 3 more score over 40-points in a game, and a couple more have 30+ scoring games. To me it is truly amazing to see a college basketball player score more then 30-points in a game, first off the games are only 40 minutes, and secondly 5 fouls and you’re out of the game. Amazing to see such good individual performances this week, especially since March Madness has officially begun. Below are my top 6 individual performances of the week.

Jack McClinton – A Junior from the University of Miami had a tremendous game this weekend. This guy went off from 3-point land in the second half, at one point he scored 14 straight points in the second half as Miami held off pesky Virginia. McClinton finished the game 7-12 from 3-point land and finished with a career high 34 points.

Sean Singletary – A Senior from University of Virginia (who is good friends with Jack McClinton). He said anything you can do I can do better! Talk about an individual performance this guy single handedly kept his team in the game, as he went off for a career 41 points in the 2-point loss at Miami.

Michael Beasley – Need I say more about this young diaper dandy, a bit of a whiner at times, Beasley for sure has lived up to his hype coming into College. The man child averages 26 points and 13 rebounds a game (not to shabby). Playing in a huge game at the University of Kansas, he was a one man team scoring 39 points and adding 11 rebounds in the loss at Kansas.

Robert Vaden – A junior guard from UAB caught fire in this weeks game against Texas El Paso. Finishing 9-12 from 3pt land and recording a remarkable 41 points. Not to mention his next game out yesterday continued with his hot hand scoring 30 points on 7-15 shooting, and a cool calm and collective 11-11 from the charity stripe.

Robert McKiver – A senior from University of Houston took 34 shot (yes your reading that correctly 34!!) The crazy part is he hit 17 of them, and 7 of those were from downtown. Pair that with a nice 11-12 from the foul line, and you get a grand total of 52 points. That’s good enough for the highest individual point total on the year. Congrats ROB!

Tyrese Rice – Boston College guard takes the cake for best performance in a game. I was lucky, and yes I got to watch this entire game, and I must add that in the first half Tyrese Rice on his own was killing the Tarheels. He went off for 34 points in the first half knocking down 8 three pointers in the first 20 minutes. The Eagles ended up losing the game, but that’s not before Rice finished with 46 a career high. His previous career high was 32 points which he took care of in the first half alone.

Hey There Hot Stuff

How hot is Erin Andrews? She takes interviewing coaches and players to a whole new level. Although she loves to do the, “I’m not paying attention but as long as your mouth is moving I’ll keep nodding my head,” move, we still love to watch her work. This former University of Florida dance team hottie has been a sideline reporter for our beloved college basketball since 2004. In 2008 she was named, “America’s Sexiest Sportscaster by Playboy,” and also serves as a reporter for ESPN college football and Major League Baseball. Any woman, who can rattle on about sports and look good doing it, is our kind of woman.

Speaking of our kind of woman, I think we may have found Erin’s new understudy. In case you don’t watch Women’s Basketball or the Miss Teen USA pageant (who doesn’t), let us introduce you to Alexandra LaForce. Better known as Allie LaForce, this Freshman Point Guard on the Ohio University basketball team is on record saying her dream job is to become a commentator for ESPN. Well Sweetheart, you already have the looks, so stay hot and smile for the camera because ESPN will come calling.

We know they love their commenting cuties and if Allie has any public speaking skills, which we know she does, her on the sideline for ESPN within 10 years is a bigger lock then Mr. Alcindor being named ESPN’s best college basketball player of all time. So here is your new assignment Erin, make Allie look as hot as you do with a microphone in her hand, pose in Playboy with Allie in a spread called, “ESPN Babes Bear it All,” and tell Bruce Pearl to keep his greasy hands off you ass. If you could accomplish those tasks and have them on our desk by tomorrow afternoon we would appreciate it, thanks.

Miami vs. Clemson

I am a huge Miami Hurricanes fan, and its nice to see them finally get back to the point where they are in consideration for a berth to the NCAA Tournament. After a brilliant 12-0 start to the season they suffered their first loss to Winthrop University. Sitting at 15-7 two weeks ago, I along with many others thought their season was over, but a 4 game win streak which included wins against Duke and Maryland the Canes are back. Clemson the 3^rd best team in the Acc has been solid all season. Tonight’s match-up between the Canes and the Tigers is a rematch of an early Acc battle which Miami won on late game 3-pointers by Jack McClinton. This game was not televised so I purchased it on the internet and will watch it live because of the huge bubble implications of this game.

1^st Half
Bizarre start to the game after a quick Clemson basket, the lights go off for a couple seconds, the officials blow the whistle and Miami takes it out on the sideline (how odd that was). Through the first five minutes it’s all Clemson who jumps out to a 10-2 lead. Continues to be all Clemson half way through the first half and they are up 24-6. Clemson refuses to miss a three; they are making them from all over the place Oglesby even makes one from 6 feet beyond the 3-point line WOW! First half comes to an end and it’s all Clemson up 41-24. Lets hope Miami makes a little turn around in the second half and makes this a game.

2^nd Half
Miami comes out of halftime and scores some quick buckets, and picks up the defensive intensity which leads to a nice 10-2 run cutting the score to 43-34. Game has finally become what it was made out to be 7:26 remaining and Miami has brought to a 4 point game 59-55 talk about a turnaround. Under four minutes left now and after Miami took a brief 1 point lead the Tigers come right back and gain a 6 point lead 69-63. These next 5 minutes should be very exciting. Miami keeps on putting up 3’s rarely making any, now its all up to Clemson’s free-throw shooting 74-67 with 1:15 left. Good fight in the second half by Miami but it just wasn’t enough to cover up their poor first half showing. Clemson makes it out of this game and all but assures themselves a NCAA berth as the worst they can do is finish the Acc at .500.

Player of the Game:
KC Rivers 21 points (4/5 3pt field goals)

NBA Stars in the Making

The debate has already begun. Before the discussion becomes a Sportscenter special every other day, we thought we’d put in our two sense. Although this years draft may not have many, right out of the gate, impact players, we feel this years draft is filled with young talent. To stay within our expertise, we will only list players playing for a college program this year. Here are 5 college players in no apparent order, that we feel could have long, exciting to watch NBA careers.

Derrick Rose
Memphis
Being compared to NBA stars such as Baron Davis and Jason Kidd, this 6’4 point guard has many attributes to give us good reason to believe he will be around for a long time. He has great size, tremendous quickness, and remarkable athleticism. With that athleticism though comes some wild shots and out of control turnovers. If he can limit his turnovers and improve his perimeter shooting, watch out. Being able to run a John Calipari offense, possibly the best offense Calipari has every coached, as a Freshman, also gives us the indication that he has the smarts and mental ability to lead an NBA team for years to come.

Michael Beasley
Kansas State
An obvious choice by many to be this years #1 pick, and for good reason. He is young, big, explosive, and athletic as hell. He is also averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds per game as a Freshman, in the Big 12 no less. Beasley also broke and is continuing to shatter the NCAA mark for Double Doubles as a Freshman which is quite an accomplishment seeing present NBA stud Carmelo Anthony held the record. Even though he needs to grow up, choose better shots, get back on defense more, and ease up on the ref bitching, we feel he may still make the leap to the NBA. Another year of college basketball could do wonders for him and it looks like he may come back, then again being the youngest player on his NBA team should make him mature quickly.

Brook Lopez
Stanford
This kid has NBA superstar written all over him. He is tall, lean, can run the floor, and best of all has great hands. His big feet and his lack of ability to explode to the rim could bring him down a peg or two. Brook can also hit a turnaround jump shot on a consistent basis and what we especially like is his ability to knock down the hook shot. This kid is also at the ideal weight for his size, not to chubby and not just skin and bones. He also has tons of potential on the defensive side. We feel he must improve in this aspect to make a quick impact in the NBA. He is very mature though and with his skills now and a little growth on the defensive side he will shine for an NBA team.

Jerryd Bayless
Arizona
Jerryd Bayless will be a star. He may not have the best shot selection but with his range, who cares. He can spot up from anywhere on the court at anytime. Bayless has a terrific first step, is quick enough to blow by almost anyone, and his ability to jump through the roof shouldn’t bother scouts. We can also tell that he loves the game and has the willingness to learn. This is a vital attribute that players must have going into the NBA. The only problem we see is that he likes to handle the rock, but isn’t sure if he wants to play the point. Like Beasley, another year in college could pay huge dividends for Jerryd. NBA scouts are drooling over this kids potential and you know what, they should be.

DeAndre Jordan
Texas A&M
Don’t let the fact that this kid comes off the bench fool you. Jordon is huge, has so much potential, and is one of the most athletic 7 footers we’ve ever seen. He can flat out dominate in the paint, and has no problem bodying up with anyone. We feel it may take a while for this kid to really become the star he can be, but hey what’s the rush. He is 19 and if you need a reminder of how athletic he is click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGW0zoGGpvQ. DeAndre will be great, possibly Dwight Howard great. The only problem we see is that he is skinny, has absolutely no range (yet), and really isn’t all that confident. So DeAndre, hit the weight room, keep practicing those 18 footers, and just have some faith, then watch as the confidence part takes care of itself. Congratulations to the team that wins his services.

Sunday February 24 Bracket Projection

1: Tennessee, Memphis, UNC, Duke
2: Stanford, Kansas, UCLA, Xavier
3: Texas, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Notre Dame
4: Louisville, Indiana, UConn, Michigan State
5: Purdue, Vanderbilt, Drake, Marquette
6: Butler, Washington State, Arizona, BYU
7: Gonzaga, Clemson, UNLV, St. Marys
8: Miami (FL), Baylor, USC, Oklahoma
9: West Virginia, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Pitt
10: South Alabama, Villanova, Texas A&M, Arkansas
11: St Joes, Kent State, Florida, Davidson
12: U Mass, Arizona State, Illinois State, Rhode Island
13: VCU, Boise State, Oral Roberts, UAB
14: Winthrop, Cornell, Rider, CS Northridge
15: UMBC, American, Belmont, Robert Morris
16: Austin Peay, Hampton, Alabama State, Portland State, Lamar

Last Four In- Illinois State, Arizona State, Rhode Island, UAB
Last Four Out- Kentucky, Florida, Ohio State, Maryland
Next Four Out- Houston, Dayton, Western Kentucky, Ole Miss

Thursday February 21 Bracket Projection

1:Memphis, UNC, Kansas, Tennessee

2:Stanford, DUKE, UCLA, Texas

3:Georgetown, Wisconsin, UConn, Xavier

4:Purdue, Notre Dame, Indiana, Louisville

5:Washinton State, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Butler

6:Pitt, Drake, Saint Mary’s, Marquette

7:Gonzaga, Clemson, BYU, Arizona

8:Kansas State, Texas A&M, USC, UNLV

9: Arizona State, Dayton, Oklahoma, Rhode Island

10: Ohio State, Miami(FL), West Virginia, Mississippi State

11: Oregon, Syracuse, Arkansas, Villanova

12: South Alabama, Maryland, St. Joes, Davidson

13: VCU, Kent State, Winthrop, UC Santa Barbara

14: Utah State, Stephen F Austin, Oral Roberts, Cornell

15: Belmont, Siena, Portland State, Robert Morris

16: UMBC, Alabama State, Hampton, American, Austin Peay


Last Four in
Villanova, Oregon, South Alabama, Arkansas

Last Four Out
Forida, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Kentucky

Next Four Out
UAB, Houston, Illinois State, Temple

Thursday Bubble games:
UMASS vs. Rhode Island
Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama
Oregon vs. USC