February 20, 2009 –
by Brendon
Printable Version of Bracket »
Bracketing challenges: After spending almost the entirety of Monday’s bracket breakdown on the bubble teams, I find the situation even more muddled for this projection. For instance, from the Big Ten, Minnesota, Michigan and Penn State each have résumés that are, on balance, good enough to get in right now. The problem is that I really don’t think that the committee would select eight of 11 teams from the Big Ten. So, if my goal is to project what the committee would do, then I need to eliminate one of those teams. Minnesota is the odd team out, because Tubby Smith’s team is playing the worst, has the same conference record as Michigan and just got blown out by the Wolverines. Those two teams will get together again in their last regular-season game in Minneapolis, so nothing is close to being decided yet. Penn State’s win at Illinois on Wednesday may have been ugly, but it is now a beautiful element of a résumé that also includes a road win at Michigan State and an 8-6 conference record. Read More »
Posted in Bracket Junkie, National Perspective
|
Tagged ACC, Arizona State, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Cincinnati, Clemson, Connecticut, Florida, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Mountain West, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Pac-10, Penn State, Providence, San Diego State, SEC, Siena, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech
|
February 3, 2009 –
by Brendon
Butler finally lost a conference game on Monday night, a 75-66 defeat at Wisconsin-Green Bay to fall to 19-2 overall and 10-1 in league play. The loss snapped a 23-game winning streak for the Bulldogs against conference opponents. But, in what appeared a likely down year for his team when the season started this fall, Brad Stevens, returning just one of his team’s top seven players, didn’t pick up its second loss until February and boast impressive wins at Xavier and at home against UAB.
In light of the program’s success — both this year and over the last decade-plus — it’s unfair to Butler basketball that I get around to writing about it right after a rare loss. The program’s run of great play has spanned four coaches, 14 seasons and two conference names. In those 14 seasons, Butler has appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments and three NITs and had 10 20-win seasons with another upcoming. From Barry Collier — now the athletic director — to Thad Matta to Todd Lickliter to Brad Stevens, the winning just doesn’t seem to stop in Indianapolis. Read More »
Posted in Mid-Majors
|
Tagged Barry Collier, Brad Stevens, Butler, DePaul, Georgia, Gonzaga, Gordon Hayward, Horizon, Matt Howard, Memphis, Mike Green, Missouri Valley, Pete Campbell, Ryan Tillema, Shelvin Mack, St. Louis, Thad Matta, Tod Kowalczyk, Todd Lickliter, Troy Cotton, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Xavier
|
January 21, 2009 –
by Brendon
It’s not a coincidence that the Southeastern Conference is the last major league that I’m putting the high beams on since BaselineStats.com launched about 10 days ago. For one, it’s hard to find the SEC on television here in New York. Who negotiated the SEC television contract anyway? Besides “Super” Tuesday and the occasional weekend CBS game, it’s very difficult to find one of the 12 SEC teams on TV, and even then, it’s almost always Tennessee, Kentucky or Florida. Read More »
Posted in SEC
|
Tagged A.J. Ogilvy, Alabama, Andy Kennedy, Arkansas, Auburn, Bruce Pearl, Chris Warren, Dennis Felton, Devan Downey, Florida, Georgia, Jarvis Varnado, Jodie Meeks, John Pelphrey, Kentucky, LSU, Marcus Thornton, Mark Gottfried, Michael Washington, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nick Calathes, Patrick Patterson, Rick Stansbury, Ronald Steele, SEC, South Carolina, Tasmin Mitchell, Tay Waller, Tennessee, Trent Johnson, Tyler Smith, Vanderbilt
|
