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Bracketology Saturday Services: Doin’ it all for my (awesome) baby!

Congregation, Please Stand UP!

As I’m sure you know by know, I am staunch follower of the Atlantic 10. For years, the A-10 has been on the bubble between major and mid-major status from all the pundits, strictly on the type of year the schools have. Unlike its bigger and stronger brothers, A-10 schools have to rely on scheduling tough non-con games to make sure the resume is strong enough to make the NCAA. Even my beloved Minutemen at 15-5 can’t utter the words NCAA because their RPI is below 60, so the likelihood of getting an at-large is as about as likely as NJIT’s unless they win the AQ.

I have been screaming to the masses that the A-10 is a major, and apparently ESPN agrees with me. The Mothership has released their schedule for the annual BracketBuster weekend which is bigger than ever this season, featuring 142 teams from 15 conferences. However, not one A-10 school is included. Since this is the great mid-major showcase, it is clear that Sean Miller’s voice was heard…after he bolted for Arizona in the ‘major’ PAC-12.

Ironically, it will the PAC-12 that needs to watch it’s back this season come Selection Sunday, as their abysmal collective performance this year should open up a few bubble bids for the Atlantic 10. I love this stuff Go Defense.

On that note, I’m proud to announce that the NYC-based ‘YES’ Network (Yankees Entertainment and Sports – which should be YEaS, but whatever) has discovered that there actually is basketball east of the Big XII. No offense to the BXII, but nothing drives me more crazy then when regional sports net plays out of region games when there are games at home.

So, with that, this week’s Saturday Services is sponsoring A-10 member and (The) Bronx resident, Fordham University Rams as they take welcome the Colonials of George Washington on the YEaS Network! Sure, my girlfriend is an alum and of course I have an agenda here, but keep in mind, it is vital(e) for every practicing Bracketologist to keep everything happy on the homefront as March gets closer – but more on that in February. That said, for everyone else on this list that didn’t go to Fordham, Thoms does have about 15 other TVs that will have other games (Like Syracuse, UMass, Duke, St.Johns, Kansas, Virginia Tech, Florida, etc)….natually, there’s a complete list below.

Lastly, if you are not aware, Professor Thoms has awarded the CoB with our own branded Loyalty Card! PT’s started the Loyalty Card program last spring, sign up for free, and swipe your card whenever you close out your tab. You collect points which can be used for some pretty cool stuff (t-shirts, bartending lessons, private parties, etc). If you already have a non-CoB card, just ask them to swap it out. They are good and can do that because they love you.

And on that, here is the fantastic Saturday Services schedule. Most of the best games are early ones, so rest up on Friday, or plan for the ‘Hair of the Hoya’. Either way, the Neeruchino is your best friend.

KEY MATCHUPS:
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
12:00 PM St. John’s at (6) Duke
12:00 PM (18) Marquette at Villanova
1:00 PM West Virginia at (4) Syracuse
1:00 PM George Washington at Fordham
1:00 PM Texas at (7) Baylor
1:30 PM Texas Tech at (2) Missouri
1:30 PM (16) Mississippi State at (13) Florida
2:00 PM (5) Kansas at Iowa State
2:00 PM Saint Louis at Massachusetts
2:30 PM Virginia Tech at Maryland
4:00 PM (1) Kentucky at LSU
4:00 PM (10) Georgetown at Pittsburgh
4:00 PM (12) San Diego State at Colorado State
6:00 PM (23) Harvard at Brown
6:00 PM Cincinnati at Rutgers
6:00 PM Auburn at Tennessee
7:00 PM Xavier at Charlotte
7:00 PM Butler at Green Bay
7:00 PM Oklahoma at (24) Kansas State
8:00 PM Eastern Illinois at (9) Murray State
8:00 PM (21) Virginia at North Carolina State
8:00 PM (25) Louisville at Seton Hall
8:05 PM Bradley at (14) Creighton
9:00 PM (15) UNLV at Air Force
9:00 PM (20) Saint Mary’s at Brigham Young
9:00 PM Marshall at Memphis

OTHER NOTABLES:
12:00 PM Hofstra at Northeastern
12:00 PM Wake Forest at Clemson
1:00 PM Arkansas State at North Texas
1:30 PM Arkansas at Alabama
2:00 PM Valparaiso at Milwaukee
2:00 PM James Madison at George Mason
3:00 PM Wofford at Charleston
3:00 PM Tennessee Tech at Morehead State
3:00 PM Tulsa at Southern Methodist
3:30 PM Wyoming at Boise State
4:00 PM Purdue at Northwestern
4:00 PM Oklahoma State at Texas A&M
4:05 PM Southern Illinois at Illinois State
5:00 PM Colgate at Holy Cross
5:00 PM Northern Iowa at Missouri State
6:00 PM Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan
7:00 PM Washington at Arizona
7:00 PM South Carolina at Ole Miss
8:00 PM Illinois at Minnesota
9:00 PM Wichita State at Drake
9:30 PM Fresno State at New Mexico State
11:00 PM Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State
11:05 PM Hawaii at Idaho

Navy: In the BIG EAST!


Where can you find pleasure, search the world for treasure,
learn science, technology?…
Sign up for the big band or sit in the grand stand
when your team and others meet.  (IN THE BIG EAST! IN THE BIG EAST!)

It is official, ESPN reports that Navy will join the Big East as a Football only member in 2015. Navy is current Independent in Football and plays the in the Patriot League in all over sports.

From a basketball perspective, this is win-win for both. Navy gets the prestige of a conference while the BE gets closer to the 12 members, which is it’s goal, without having to waterdown the basketball side of the conference and further.

Not going to lie, I think still think that the non-football Big East schools should still merge with the Atlantic 10 (a non-football major basketball conference) to build a basketball super-conference. A man can dream…

Joe Paterno dies

RIP Joe Paterno

Legendary Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno has died due to complications from lung cancer. The family released a statement this around 10a this morning.


“In all the things that have gone on in the lastfew months, I can’t help but think that he died of a broken heart…Its a sad day, we lost a great person on a lot of levels and it’s even more sad given the whole situation.”
- Matt Millen, Penn State Linebacker 1976-1979, on ESPN this morning.

I won’t write much about this here because there is nothing that I can that won’t be said over and over on the major media outlets. However, it is sad to see how everything went down the past few months.

Bracketology Saturday Services: Go Ahead, Let it Snow!!

Congregation, Please Stand UP!


Oh, the weather outside will’be frightful,
But watching UConn lose is delightful,
So, you know the place to be,
With CoB!
Hangin’ with Nee’(ru)
At PT!

If Mr. Senior Love Daddy was with us right now – first of all that would be amazing, but second – he would have tomorrow’s NYC forecast as “BBBBBBBBBLECH!!” And that’s the double truth, Ruth! So, they’re calling for snow starting at Midnight tonight and giving us a a few inches of the white stuff during the day. I see no better idea than to sit in the warm inside with hoops, friends, nachos and boooooze!! (there is a hot version of the Neeruchino too – its almost the same w/o ice)!

And, for the first time this season, we can finally #OccupyTheBar as there are no Playoffs, Bowls, Santas, Holidays, Pledge Weeks, or other random distractions that will keep us from our quest to the Final Four! Seriously, what an amazing day it is too! 20 of the Top 25 are in action, starting with #2 Kentucky/Alabama at Noon all the way through the Quiggles vs. SWillkins Classic otherwise known as #1 Syracuse at Notre Dame! 

But it doesn’t end there! For the daring folks that stay long enough, the “Downward Spiral Classic” tips off at 9p as #21 Louisville and #00 Pittsburgh will try to defy physics by playing the only game where both teams lose. Seriously, as Trent Reznor would say (and I am paraphrasing here), “They were up above it, and now they’re down in it.” I couldn’t say it better myself..well, I would whine less. Pitt and Lou are a combined 3-11 in their last 14. Ouch!  Time to go to the ACC, boys!

So, stay out of the snow, grab a coffee for “Mix Master ‘Ru” to work the bottles and head to Thoms because this season has been awesome (baby) so far with upsets galore – I can’t say that enough!  No team is safe.

I sum it up with a quick reading from our Holy Playbook. Please read along from the Book of Huggins; play 5-12:

On the 6th day God said, “Let there be hoops.” and there was, and it was Awesome, baby!
Then, on the 7th day, God said, “Leave me alone!! I have a hangover!”….so on the 8th day, He created Pedialyte. Go Defense!

Here’s the Lineup…starts at 11a with Maryland @ Temple.  The A-10 waits for no one! (trust me. They never wait for me and I am their fan)


TIME (ET) MATCHUP
11:00 AM Maryland at Temple
12:00 PM Fordham at St. Bonaventure
12:00 PM Alabama at (2) Kentucky
12:00 PM Purdue at (9) Michigan State
12:00 PM Rutgers at (12) Georgetown
1:00 PM Southern Methodist at Memphis
1:00 PM Xavier at Dayton
1:00 PM Villanova at St. John’s
1:30 PM South Carolina at Auburn
2:00 PM (5) Missouri at (3) Baylor
2:00 PM (19) Michigan at Arkansas
2:00 PM Butler at Loyola (IL)
2:30 PM Georgia Tech at Clemson
3:00 PM Cincinnati at West Virginia
4:00 PM Florida State at (4) Duke
4:00 PM (7) Kansas at Texas
4:00 PM (11) Connecticut at Tennessee
4:00 PM UCLA at Oregon
5:00 PM Massachusetts at Richmond
6:00 PM (1) Syracuse at Notre Dame
6:00 PM LSU at (14) Florida
7:00 PM (15) Mississippi State at Vanderbilt
7:00 PM (22) Marquette at Providence
7:00 PM (24) Harvard at Dartmouth
8:00 PM (6) Ohio State at Nebraska
9:00 PM (10) Murray State at SIU-Edwardsville
9:00 PM (21) Louisville at Pittsburgh
10:00 PM Air Force at (16) San Diego State
10:00 PM New Mexico at (20) UNLV
11:00 PM (23) Saint Mary’s at Santa Clara

Other Notables:
12:00 PM Wake Forest at Boston College
12:00 PM Wright State at Detroit
1:30 PM Kansas State at Oklahoma State
2:00 PM UCF at UAB
2:00 PM Army at American University
2:00 PM Arkansas-Little Rock at WKU
2:00 PM Florida Atlantic at Florida International
3:00 PM Indiana State at (18) Creighton
4:00 PM Ole Miss at Georgia
4:00 PM Valparaiso at Illinois-Chicago
4:00 PM Oklahoma at Texas A&M
4:00 PM Northeastern at Drexel
4:00 PM Towson at George Mason
5:00 PM Iowa State at Texas Tech
6:00 PM Kent State at Akron
6:00 PM Colorado State at Wyoming
7:00 PM Charlotte at George Washington
7:00 PM LIU Brooklyn at Wagner
7:30 PM Charleston at Georgia Southern
8:00 PM Missouri State at Bradley
8:00 PM Old Dominion at VCU
8:05 PM Illinois State at Evansville
10:00 PM Fresno State at Nevada
11:00 PM Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara

Bracketology Saturday Services: Kentucky ‘Friad’ Cardinals…yum!

bracketology-saturday-services-kentucky-friad-cardinals-yum

And then there were three…

With a season full of amazing upsets every week (usually a couple every night) it is hard to believe that there are still three unbeaten teams: #1 Syracuse, #4 Baylor, and #14 Murray State.  Conference play has begun, so we are in the home stretch for these teams. The last time a team went undefeated in the regular season was St. Joe’s in 2004, and of course we all know about the 1976 Hoosier team to complete the perfect season. Yeah yeah!

So, could it happen again? Well, all three teams show no signs of losing anytime soon, but both Cuse and Baylor have the uphill battle of tough conferences to get through first. Murray State has less games left (12) and a weaker conference, so maybe?  But, they are featured heavy in the upcoming Bracketbuster Weekend in February! Continue reading ‘Bracketology Saturday Services: Kentucky ‘Friad’ Cardinals…yum!’ »

Games of the night: Hump day hoops!

games-of-the-night-hump-day-hoops

LSU at Alabama (9p. EST ESPN3): Wow… how was that national title game?  Well. for those who had to suffer the Tebow-like snoozefest on Monday, there is LSU at Alabama basketball on ESPN 3 tonight!

Be careful what you wish for, as a discussion arose on Twitter for #GamesIWouldRatherSeeThanThis, I actually stated that I would rather see LSU/Bama hoops.  Oops, I didn’t look at the schedule, because here it is!

This actually not as bad game as it sounds.  Alabama is scuffling a bit after a high preseason ranking.  And LSU, who is usually buried in the swamp of the SEC actually has some relvenence this season at 11-4 and 4th in the SEC standings.  If you are not a fan of these two schools, you don’t need to watch this. If you are a fan, you are either still basking in the glory of victory to even pay attention to indoor sports, or have such a bitter taste that you are hidding from anything yellow and purple.

#1 Syracuse at Villanova (7p. EST ESPN2): Syracuse is really all that is advertised.  Forget the “Magnolia Bakery Invitational” that Jim Boeheim scheduled for the first half of the season, they did beat Florida (before it was trendy). Stanford (before the PAC-12 got drunk and ‘slept’ over), Virginia Tech (before we put them back on the bubble) and NC State (off of Jimmy V. Week.) However, all joking aside, Continue reading ‘Games of the night: Hump day hoops!’ »

Game of the night: #4 Baylor at #18 Kansas State

Ok, this might seem obvious because this is the biggest game on the schedule.  However, the point of this feature is not always to pick the biggest game, but the one with the biggest overall impact on the season.  That said, this games like this definetly prove that there are Basketball Gods who created the forum for which an entire religion based on the sport could be formed. That said, this game is huge all around.

Baylor BearsFirst, Baylor – we all know that Baylor is one of the last three undefeated teams left (Syracuse, Murray State) with the record of 15-0. The 15 games to date have been on the weaker side until Christmas, then they were tested in overtime against a good West Virginia team. Then came the nailbiter against then #14 Miss St. to end non-conference play. However, the chance that they will finish the regular season undefeated will be near to impossible in the Big XII. Since they have the gone to the balanced schedule, they will have to play Kansas, Mizzou, and Kansas State twice. That is a gauntlet that should take a causalty along the way.  Mizzou found that out the hard way last week going down to tonight opponent, K-State.  And, the different between Miss St. and K-State is the conference familiarity.  Scott Drew’s Bears will need to watch up for K-State because…

 

Kansas State Logo…K-State just popped Mizzou’s win/loss cherry over the weekend.  K-State has 14 wins and only 2 loses on the season (West Virginia, Kansas). Any team can tell you, when you can take the invincibility of the undefeated record away from a conference foe, you don’t shy away.  A lost to either team will not hurt their chances come March, but it this game will be fun just to watch the intensive fight for dominance or survival.

And, we’re back.

and-were-back

Hey there, so I was off for a bit as I traveled for the holidays and other sporting events, but we are back!  Oh, stay tuned for the podcast (we took some time off to work on that as well!)

 

Let the upsets continue!

Game of the Day: Vandy at #13 Marquette

Vanderbilt has fallen on hard times.  Starting the season with strong preranking of 7 in both polls, may have been more about respect for Kevin Stallings than based on that actual team.  Losing back-to-back to Louisville and Xavier (pre-brawl) is respectable able. Losing to Cleveland St. and Indiana St. is not so much.  Actually both teams are strong mid-majors, so beating Vandy was a strong but not unpredictable upset, but losing to both hurts and knocks them out of the Top 25.  Now, Vandy has one last shot at redemption before the gauntlet of the SEC East.
Marquette, on the other hand, has been rolling along playing some tough Basquetteball. Starting the season in the bottom of the rankings, they cruised through their non-conference schedule beating Old Miss, #7 Wisconsin, and Washington to go 9-0 before a scary loss at LSU. A quick and easy rebound at Milwaukee and Buzz Williams Golden Eagles are set for another brutal run through the Big East.

Realistically, this game is more important to Kevin Stallings as you don’t want to enter the SEC East with a 8-6 record.  That smells NIT-bound.  A good win in Milwaukee will look good come Selection Sunday.

Good college hoops trumps bad NBA anyday

If you tuned in to the college hoops last night, you treated yourself.

First, four of the six unbeatens were in action last night.  Two survived (Baylor, Syracuse) and two didn’t (Indiana & Louisville).  Both the Louisville and Indiana went down to quality ranked opponents.  Baylor just squeaked by with a last second defensive slap to knock the ball out of anyone’s hands so the clock could run out. A wise and well-coached play. Continue reading ‘Good college hoops trumps bad NBA anyday’ »