SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 3-19-15
SHOT CLOCK BLOG I'm applying NIT speedup rules to this week's edition. In other words I hope your bracket contest stay is longer than this blog. My heart is full of March Madness but my sports mind is rather empty otherwise. For those who like an extended version my apologies. For the rest of you? You're welcome!
DANCE FEVER: Full disclosure; I’m a College Football fanatic and come from a family that played, appreciates and romanticizes the game of baseball but there is no postseason event I love more than the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Today’s game is only a shadow of what it once was but so far that stench hasn’t permeated the Big Dance bracket. It simply has no rival. The new College Football Playoff got off to a wonderful start but in its infancy it somewhat pales in comparison. There is no other tournament/playoff format with so many gut wrenching elimination games where within the span of 10 minutes you could see four instances of agony and ecstasy played out. The magic seems to lie in the fact that it is the only event where the early rounds seem to contain as much drama as the marquee matchups sure to follow. It also is the postseason event that retains my attention at an extremely high level even after my team is eliminated or more importantly in years –such as this- when they aren’t even a participant. It is tremendous theatre played at a terrific spot on the calendar and I love every minute of it.
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Forget my opinion above here is a declaration that cannot be debated; the NCAA Tournament is the heavyweight champion office pool event OF ALL TIME. There may not always be coin on the line but you can bet there will be brackets filled out and scores kept from the taverns to the tabernacles. It is great fun and another thing that I absolutely suck at. With that precursor here are a few of my pre-tourney visions:
SWEET 16: Kentucky; Maryland; Notre Dame; Kansas ; Wisconsin; North Carolina; Baylor; Arizona; Villanova; Louisville; Oklahoma; Virginia; Duke; S.F. Austin; Iowa St; Gonzaga
ELITE 8: Kentucky; Kansas; Wisconsin; Arizona; Villanova; Virginia; Duke; Iowa St
FINAL 4: Kentucky; Arizona; Nova; Iowa St
NATIONAL CHAMP: Kentucky (over Iowa St)
FIRST #1 SEED TO BE ELIMINATED: WISCONSIN Though I believe that Villanova is the weakest of the #1 seeds the Badgers region is much tougher than the Wildcats’ and the West Region (where Wisconsin was placed) in Los Angeles will be played on Thursday and Saturday as opposed to the East’s Friday-Sunday slate in Syracuse. Wisconsin –though possibly the second best team in America- drew a brutal projected road to the Final-4 of Coastal Carolina, Oregon, North Carolina and Arizona.
LOW SEED (7 OR GREATER) MOST LIKELY TO MAKE A DEEP RUN: WICHITA STATE Ron Baker and Fred Van Fleet along with their coach Gregg Marshall have seen all there is to see in March and won’t be intimidated by their surroundings. They will beat Indiana in round one; face a Kansas team with the weight of the -intrastate rivalry- world on their shoulders then probably face a very beatable Notre Dame squad in the 16.
BEST LOW SEED (12 AND ABOVE) FIRST ROUND UPSET CHANCES:
12 SEED: Buffalo over West Virginia and Wofford over Arkansas Any amateur Bracketologist knows 5-12 matchups are historically rife with upsets and it appears as if there are two excellent opportunities this season as well. The Bulls led Kentucky at the half in Lexington and played very competitively with Wisconsin arguably the best two teams in America. Wofford has a slew of upperclassmen facing an Arkansas team that while talented is also wildly inconsistent without a player that has experienced NCAA Tournament pressure.
13 SEED: Eastern Washington over Georgetown In a guard driven tourney Eastern Washington’s Tyler Harvey (22.9 ppg) will be the best in the game and the Hoyas have won one NCAA Tournament game since 2009
14 SEED: Georgia State over Baylor I just think between Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Baylor, Scott Drew’s Bears are the most likely to sleep walk through an opener.
15 SEED: Belmont over Virginia I know defense travels and only Kentucky defends better than Virginia but the Cavaliers play a style that will keep teams in the game and the Bruins are sure to attack wisely. Besides I’m a Rick –and Ben- Byrd sheep.
16 SEED Hampton over Manhattan and North Florida over Robert Morris 16s better pull their upsets on Tuesday and Wednesday because it sure
ain’t happnin on Thursday or Friday
VOL BASEBALL ADDENDUM: Tony likes nothing better than when I reach a tipping point with any of my beloved Vol sports programs and will actually spill my guts about it on-air. TB has the unique ability to push the right button at the precise time to send me off on a tirade. Last week he accomplished this by exploiting my growing frustration with Tennessee’s Baseball program. I lambasted the fact that I have not seen the improvement in team stature that I believe is necessary and should be the natural result of improved recruiting. Believe me I love the fact that baseball is one of the few sports that doesn’t automatically doom those not blessed with size. I’m rather diminutive myself and appreciate the opportunities the game provided me.
I do think however that you have to take advantage of several spots in your lineup to insert size and the corresponding power that it provides. My point to Tony was out of the six positions of C, 1B, 3B, LF, RF and DH at least half of those should be manned by someone that can hit the ball out of the yard or consistently drive the ball. With the overly-strict bat performance codes now enforced it is even more imperative that this occurs. When comparing our lineup to others in the SEC we still seem to be giving away too much in this area.
Realizing that Dave Serrano prefers a get-em-on, get-em-over, get-em-in, running style -and conceding that it is even more effective in the dead bat era- I still believe we are sacrificing too much to tailor the lineup to that approach. This is especially puzzling when you consider that the small ball approach –and the corresponding smaller players employed- hasn’t led to better defense. As stated above the approach will win but not if you can’t consistently catch it and throw it accurately. If you are going to regularly finish near the bottom of the league in fielding percentage you better have three guys capable of hitting three run bombs to make up the difference. I love Dave Serrano and continue to hope that he can fulfill his goal of returning the Vol program to regular NCAA Tournament participant status. If that is to occur however we have to either field it a lot better or add some pop capable of erasing errors with one swing.
IN A PERFECT WORLD: College Basketball’s conclusion, Major League Baseball’s beginning and warm weather would collide resulting in a magical trifecta. I guess there is something perfect in this old world after all.
