Oscar Gamble Society

Let’s start with Duke.  They get a #1 seed.  The first round game is against the play in winner…. the number 4 seed in the bracket is a Purdue team that has been in a free fall since losing Hummel, and they get by far the weakest #2 and #3 seeds in Villanova and Baylor.  How is that possible?   Why are they treated like the #1 overall team in the country?  What did they do this year to deserve that?  Did they have a single quality win the entire year?  Pretty sure their best win was home against Maryland.  Their best road win was at Clemson.  They beat a very average Gonzaga team non-conference, but that is it.  How does that warrant a #1 seed, let alone the #1 overall???  They lost all three of its tough games (@ Wisconsin, @ Georgetown and @ Maryland)  Duke hasn’t made a run in the tourney for quite some time… perhaps that is why they are gifted the easiest draw I have seen…

I need to bitch a little about Va Tech.  Yes, I like Cornell and Marquette more than Va Tech, but I still follow them very closely.  For the third year in a row, they were one of the final 2-3 teams not to make the tourney.  This year they didn’t make it largely because of a supposed weak non-conference schedule.  The RPI formula is 75% based on strength of schedule, and 25% on how you actually perform against that schedule, and it killed Va Tech this year.  Should that be the top criteria used by the committee…. No fricken’ way.  Let’s compare California v. Va Tech.  Cal got an at-large #8 seed.  Let’s assume that the ACC was better than the Pac 10 this year (anyone wanting to argue that, let me know).  Cal had a much better RPI because of its “difficult” non-conference schedule.  Cal went 8-4 in the non-conference with the best win against Iowa State at home (a team that finished 11^th in the Big 12).  The four losses came against powerhouses Syracuse, Ohio State, Kansas and New Mexico - losing by a combined 51 points…i.e. they were not competitive in any of those games.  They had one win against a tournament team when they beat Washington at home….and they got an 8 seed.  Va Tech on the other hand went 12-1 in the non-conference, with the one loss @ Temple (a #5 seed in the NCAA).  They played a lot of crappy teams, but they did schedule games @Iowa, @ Penn State, Seton Hall, and Georgia…. All teams for major conferences who have traditionally been respectable teams (OK, maybe not Penn State).  In the conference schedule they beat Clemson, Wake Forest and @ Georgia Tech… all tourney teams.  They lost in double OT to Maryland, and have the ACC conference player of the year in Delaney.  They were also tied @ Duke with 5 minutes left in the game.  How Cal is an 8 seed and Va Tech is in the NIT is joke.

So it seems a fait accompli that the Big Dance is going to 96 teams.  I was annoyed when it went to 65, replete with the dumb play-in game, but whatever… what’s one inconsequential game in the grand scheme of things?  Not enough to complain about.  But 96 teams instead of 64… er, 65?  Enough to complain about.

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[Ed. note: Written by Gonzo, posted here by Cliffy - since Gonzo is apparently more computer illiterate than even Cliffy, and still hasn’t mastered the difficult process involved in posting to OGS.  He’s welcome… again.]

Pretty reasonable. I suppose a good argument could have been made for an 11 (yes, Minnesota I am looking in YOUR direction) and there was some guy on CBS who said he could have seen them get a 10, but all in all not too bad.

Should be a good game. Hopefully they pull it off. They ARE getting some love from the pundits (as much love as a 12 can get, anyway) - most have been calling out this game specifically as an intriguing matchup, and some are even picking Cornell!

I heard Bill Self on Dan Patrick’s show this morning, and he specifically mentioned Cornell as a team to watch (not suprising it was him that said it, given he saw them up close and personal).

Not related to Cornell, but my local paper predicted MORGAN STATE to make the Sweet 16. That’s pretty fucking bold, considering the 15 has won what, a grand total of 3 times since the format went to 64? Nevermind actually winning TWO games.

Before we sat down to watch the Gold Medal Men’s Hockey game between Canada and the US yesterday afternoon, I told Lori that I hoped Canada would win.  She excoriated me for being unpatriotic.  I explained that I’d obviously be happy if the Americans won, for the obvious reasons - but there were more (and better) reasons why I was actually hoping Canada would take the gold… ideally in a close, well-played, very entertaining game (which fortunately for us is exactly what we got).

My reasons: (more…)

If you haven’t heard, he apparently made some “controversial” comments about the Russian team after they got lambasted by Canada in the quarters:

 http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/NBC-analyst-Mike-Milbury-not-a-fan-of-Russia-s-?urn=oly,224135

Oh - and you can click to a link of the video from 30 years ago, when he jumped into the MSG stands with his teammates… and elected to take things one step further, beating the fan who started it all with his own shoe.  Just classic.

No word on whether or not Milbury had foiled up before the game.

Mosi Tatupu dead at 54

Very happy for the Saints, their fans, and the city/region on whole. Yes, I jumped on that bandwagon along with most of the country. As I’d explained previously, I’m happy that Bill Polian didn’t get “justification” for the disgraceful laydown he heaped upon his players (and coaching staff). I actually feel bad for the Colts players/coaches, as their myopic GM denied them an opportunity at history. Whether they’d won or lost the SB, Polian made the wrong decision (again specifically to pull healthy guys - I completely agree that injured guys didn’t need to play in that situation). (more…)