Last night Ken Griffey Jr. knocked the 600th home run of his career, is this a harbinger of great things for the Juniors of this world? This coming Sunday is Father’s Day, are the stars lining up? What could be more fitting than to do something fantastic on Father’s Day when your name is followed by the term Junior? Ken Griffey Jr. has set the pace… Who are the other Juniors that could do their Dads proud this week?
There are many in baseball, but since Ken Griffey Jr. has already stepped up, we’ll concede baseball to him.
The NBA Finals are on the schedule, but neither the Celtics nor the Lakers have any Juniors on their rosters… Whats up with that?
The U.S. Open is on this week. I suppose many look at the game of golf as an uppity endeavor and based on the fact that I couldn’t find a single “Junior” in the field, this may be an indication. The fact that there are two with the “III” at the end of their names goes a long way toward reinforcing that uppity moniker… The two “high brows” are Davis Love III and Charles Howell III, well la-de-dah… Personally, I grew up with a guy who had the “III” behind his name and if he was any indication, then the uppity thing works… Remember the old MASH sitcom with Major Charles Winchester III? Now that’s uppity personified…
Davis Love III and Charles Howell III
So that boils the week’s sporting events on this Father’s Day week down to racing. No, the Formula cars and the Indy cars will be idle this week. NASCAR will be on the docket with the Trucks and Sprint Cup cars running Friday and Sunday at Michigan International Speedway (the Cool City Customs 200 and the LifeLock.com 400, respectively) and the Nationwide cars will be running Saturday at Kentucky Speedway in the Meijer 300.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
There will be two Juniors trying to qualify for the Truck race as Ron Hornaday Jr. and Scott Lagrasse Jr. are among the drivers there. There is only one Junior trying to qualify for the Nationwide field in Kentucky. Bobby Hamilton Jr. will be looking for a top finish there. That leaves us looking at the Sprint Cup LifeLock.com 400 on Sunday. There will potentially be three Juniors in this field as Martin Truex Jr., Sam Hornish Jr. and finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be in the qualifying.
Ron Hornaday Jr. and Sam Hornish Jr.
Martin Truex Jr. and Bobby Hamilton Jr.
So which of these racing Juniors is the most likely to once again bring glory to the name he proudly wears?
After looking at their histories on the tracks being run and with careful consideration into who is due to win, I’ve got to believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most likely to win in their respective races this weekend…
To all you fathers out there, have a Happy Father’s Day, and may the best Junior win!
That destroyer of championship dreams in Major League Baseball has reared its ugly head early this year. The grueling wear and tear the Major League ball players go through usually begins to take its toll in the late summer, but not this year. The New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins have been bit the hardest by the injury bug as they have each already had 9 different players on the disabled list (DL) and we’re only two months into the season. The New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics have also had more than what should be their fair share of injuries as they have had 8 players each on the DL to date. The Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals have each had 7 players on the DL so far, while the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers have all had 6 players go down. Two of the five oldest teams in the league have pretty much avoided the injury bug up until the announcement this morning that the Boston Red Sox will lose David Ortiz for at least a month with a wrist injury. Ortiz becomes the third Red Sox player to land on the DL so far. The oldest team in the league right now, the Houston Astros, only has one player on the DL. Is it the water? In Houston???
Key everyday players that have visited the DL so far this season besides new arrival Ortiz include the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, the Mets’ Moises Alou, the Tigers’ Gary Sheffield, the Dodgers’ Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones and the Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells. The biggest hit the Yankees have taken though has been among their pitching staff where seven are currently on the DL. The Red Sox have been without the services of Curt Schilling since the beginning of the season and more recently, Daisuke Matsuzaka, two of their preseason starting pitching rotation. Other top pitchers who have seen the DL this year include the Rays’ closer Troy Percival and their pitcher of the month in May, Scott Kazmir who missed all of April, the Padres’ premier starter Jake Peavy, and the Mets’ Pedro Martinez, who is just back from a long stint on the DL.
Here is a look at all the MLB teams, their average age by category and the number of players they’ve had on the DL this season to date…
Arranged by oldest to youngest everyday (Position) players:
Team Ave. Age- Positions Bench S. Pitchers R. Pitchers DL
Houston Astros 31.1 33.8 28 31.2 30.3 1
SF Giants 28.8 32.9 24.4 25.4 29.6 6
Toronto Blue Jays 30.3 32.2 28.3 27.4 31.1 6
New York Yankees 30.8 31.9 30 31.4 29.4 9
Detroit Tigers 29.5 31.1 26 29 29.9 6
Chicago Cubs 30.2 30.9 29.4 28.2 31.4 3
Seattle Mariners 29.9 30.7 29.8 30 29 1
Boston Red Sox 30.2 30.6 29.2 31.6 29.5 3
Chicago White Sox 29.5 30.6 30 28.8 28.4 0
Pittsburgh Pirates 28.4 30 30 25.4 27.7 2
Philadelphia Phillies 29.9 29.9 31.6 29.8 28.8 4
San Diego Padres 29.8 29.9 28.6 31.6 29.4 8
New York Mets 29.8 29.8 31.8 29.2 28.9 8
Baltimore Orioles 29.2 29.8 28.5 28.8 29 7
Los Angeles Angels 28.4 29.3 26.3 26.6 29.6 3
Florida Marlins 27.8 28.9 30 26 26.9 9
Texas Rangers 28.5 28.8 25.8 28.6 29.6 6
Colorado Rockies 27.8 28.6 25.3 25.8 29.6 9
St. Louis Cardinals 29.3 28.5 29 30.4 29.7 9
Oakland Athletics 27.4 27.9 24 26.2 29.6 8
Cincinnati Reds 29.6 27.8 31.6 26.8 32.4 5
Kansas City Royals 28.3 27.8 29 27.8 28.9 3
Milwaukee Brewers 30 27.5 32.8 27.8 32.3 5
Cleveland Indians 28.7 27.2 28.5 28.6 30.9 2
LA Dodgers 28.6 27.1 29.8 29.4 28.9 6
Washington Nats 28 27.1 28.8 27.8 28.5 7
Minnesota Twins 27.7 26.6 29.5 26.8 28.7 4
Tampa Bay Rays 27.6 26.6 28.8 24.6 30.6 3
Atlanta Braves 28.6 26.5 29.5 29.2 29.8 7
Arizona D’backs 27.4 25.4 27.4 30 27.9 1
I put this in terms of a comparison in age since I believe that plays a key role in whether injuries will dominate a team’s performance. Yes, the injury bug is indiscriminant, but the age factor has got to weigh in at some point. Let’s face it, younger bodies can handle the grind better and if hurt, they will mend quicker, it’s just nature. This is part of the adversity that these teams are confronted with. How well they deal with it may lead them to the playoffs or drop them into the ranks of the also-rans.
Here are some other statistics that you won’t find on the sports page:
For more insight into the significance of these numbers, cross reference them against the current league standings with a third of the season in the books.
If that isn’t a real eye opener I don’t know what is!
I won't forget what this Yankee tried to do...
As I post this article, the Tampa Bay Rays along with the Arizona Diamondbacks are in first in their divisions while the Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins are all running close seconds…
Where's the money coming from in the future? This is the standard question being asked as business people strive to increase profits and stay out in front of the competition. Sports has become a huge business over the last few decades and this same question must be being asked here as well. What drives sports revenues? Well, we as fans do.
San Francisco's old Kezar Stadium
In the early days we paid admission to stadiums and arenas so we could watch and cheer for our favorite teams. We bought publications that kept us abreast of the daily fortunes of our teams, we listened to radio broadcasts and occasionally we even got to see our favorites on live television. Man, that was a great treat!
So the ticket prices began to rise. In the professional sports we were told that the advent of free agency forced these prices up… Then there was inflation. If it wasn’t one thing it was another. Next, we had to more closely identify with our favorites so it became important for us to wear the team colors. Sports apparel has grown from the days of simply wearing a ball cap or a tee shirt emblazoned with our team’s logo to some now wearing complete outfits in their team's sanctioned authentic apparel lines. Have you priced a ball cap or tee shirt these days? Next, the stadiums and arenas were more than happy to supply the fan's needs for food and beverages. Today we have to pay ridiculous prices if we want something to eat or drink. On top of this we are normally banned from bringing our own snacks inside the stadiums. Couple this with the cost of getting to the various sporting venues. Parking fees, something unheard of in the old days, were begun and have steadily increased to the point that they exceed what a set of two tickets used to cost. Today the cost of fuel has skyrocketed. It seems that now, everywhere a sports fan turns, there is someone standing there with their hand out expecting you to cross it with silver just so you can attend a sporting event.
All of these things have changed the fan's faces in the stands, as many just can't afford to attend these events anymore. Today we are seeing some sports beginning to suffer as their fans have stopped attending their events. The major professional sports, the NFL, NASCAR, MLB, the NBA and the NHL are seeing the effects of their exorbitant costs to the fans as many of the smaller market teams are now struggling to make ends meet. They simply don’t have a fan base large enough to include several thousands of fans willing and able to afford these expenses more than once or twice a season. The same effect is beginning to be seen in the collegiate sports and smaller time sporting enterprises like your local race tracks and minor league baseball. So where is the money going to come from in the future?
Through all of this there has been one shining star that kept fan interest high. In the 1950’s our nation, having won a world war with our citizen’s courage and our technological prowess, our industries developed and brought us wonderful new conveniences. One of the most significant was that we got wired into television. We had entered into the communication age and by the end of that decade, darn near every home had a television. The world had shrunk considerably. The sixties brought us color television and in the seventies the major television networks that had sprung up started getting competition from independent stations. Most of the country could receive television transmissions over the airwaves by antennae. You had to have electricity, but the programming was paid by advertiser’s dollars. The nation’s space program brought us satellite technology that in turn made the first “super stations” available. These came to us by satellite transmission and satellite receiving dishes became a common feature around many homes. Then another communication age phenomenon took place as cable television began following the lead of our country’s electrification and telephone wiring procedure. Another network of wires began to grow based upon the satellite technology. Today all of the country’s metropolitan areas have cable television and for a relatively low price, our citizens can enjoy all sorts of entertainment on television. The country’s sports fans have benefited greatly as we are able to see all kinds of sporting events on a twenty-four hour a day basis. For around $40.00 a month I have 6 ESPN channels, 4 Fox Sports channels, 2 local sports channels, Speed, Golf, Fishing, and more… The channels still bring me advertising while I cough up the monthly fee, but what the heck. Compared to personally going to a live big time sporting event, it’s nothing.
With this basically free television coverage to satisfy our sports appetite, all has been well, but there appear to be dark clouds gathering on the horizon as these business types continue to search for the money. In November of 2003, the NFL owners voted unanimously to fund a new television venture by devoting $100 million towards it’s start up. In 2006 this venture came to life and we know it today as the NFL Network. The problem is we can’t all get this new offering. If you subscribe to the satellite network, Direct TV, you’re in. Most of the cable TV networks haven’t been able to reach a satisfactory agreement with the NFL and so most of the country’s NFL fans are being left out. Then in 2006 a college athletic conference, the Mountain West, started their own sports television network. This is a joint venture between the conference, the Columbia Broadcasting System’s Sports Network and Comcast Cable Television. Known as “The MTN”, it features 24 hour a day of exclusive Mountain West Conference athletic events. Next, in 2007, the Big Ten Conference launched its own sports network as well. In another joint venture, “The Big Ten Network” came into being with the Big Ten Conference owning 51% while Fox Cable Networks operates the network and owns the minority 49%. So a new idea has come to life in the revenue stream… Today I read where the Southeastern Conference is now considering a television network of their own. Considering the conference’s recent successes in football and basketball, it might turn into a very lucrative deal as Fox and CBS would most certainly line up to bid for a partnership similar to the previously mentioned conferences. The trend is clear and I expect to see the other major collegiate conferences join in or they will lose a potential revenue source.
So if all of these new ventures prove to be successful, can we expect to see the other major sports in our country join in? I think we all know the answer to that. What then is the next step in this ongoing need to siphon dollars from the sports fans of America? It’s been around for awhile, it’s called pay per view. At first only the biggest events will go that route, but eventually it will become commonplace. Can NASCAR, MLB and all the others be far behind?
It’s not enough that most of us can’t afford to attend the sporting events in person on a regular basis anymore. It’s not enough that we now pay for our cable television and still have to listen to the advertisements to boot. Will it be enough when we not only pay for the cable television monthly subscription costs, while forced to watch the commercials, and also have to cough up a fee to watch each event?
This Friday marks the beginning of the 34th Annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament. Sixty-four teams from around the nation have played their way into the tournament which will ultimately boil down to eight teams advancing to Omaha, Nebraska where the “College World Series” will determine the national champion.
Oregon State won the last two national championships but didn't make the field this year.
One of the intriguing stories to come out of this regular college baseball season is the play of the LSU Tigers. Just five short weeks ago the Tigers were mired in 11th place in the SEC standings, but, as baseball teams are sometimes able to do, the Bayou Bengals warmed up with the weather and reeled off a school record 20 game winning streak enabling them to claim their first conference title since the 2000 season. Propelled along by their Sophomore outfielder Blake Dean, pictured here, who hit .438 with three dingers and nine RBI’s, the Tigers won four straight games in the league championship series where he was named the Most Valuable Player. Blake’s performances were highlighted by a walk off game-winning home run in the 10th inning of a first round SEC Tournament game against South Carolina. LSU enters the national tournament as the 7th seed. Congratulations to LSU!
Just as in the NCAA Basketball National Championship Tournament, there are many great stories on how different teams have made their way into this national championship tournament. The University of Miami (FL) (47-8), fresh off its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship title, will be making its NCAA record 36th consecutive regional appearance this week as they host a four-team regional for the 22nd time.
UC Davis Pitcher Andy Suiter
The University of California, Davis, in it’s first year of eligibility as a Division I school made it into the tournament after earning an at-large bid. They will appear in the regional hosted by Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will host a regional for the second consecutive year as they claimed their sixth Big South Conference title in the last eight years. This will mark their eighth tournament seed in school history.
Despite a 21 – 32 season record, Mount St. Mary’s of the Northeast Conference won the conference’s automatic berth and enters the tournament for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers have the unenviable pleasure of beginning the tournament against the number two seed North Carolina Tar Heels in Raleigh, North Carolina no less…
Nebraska's Johnny Dorn, UCLA's Tim Murphy and Oklahoma State's Luis Flores
The SEC leads all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with nine, followed by the ACC and Big 12 with six. Conference USA and the Pacific-10 have five teams each, while the Big West has four.
Arizona State Sun Devils' Ike Davis
Baseball fans, give these games a look as you will be watching very high quality competition with many future major leaguers.
The bottom line is that yet another NCAA sport’s champion will be determined under the au####es of what is supposed to be major college athletics’ administrative body, and it will occur on the field of play without a bunch of BcS in the mix. IT IS SO REFRESHING!
Florida State Seminoles', second only to the Miami Hurricanes in the number of appearances in the NCAA Division I Baseball National Championships.
Good luck to all the 2008 participants as they hold the outcome of their fortunes in their own hands. What a concept!
In the NHL both the Red Wings and the Penguins need to win one game and then they will meet in the finals for the Stanley Cup, right?
In the NBA the Lakers took down the Jazz so they advance to the Western Conference title best of seven series… The Celtics and Cavaliers meet in Boston today with this winner advancing to the Eastern Conference title series. Am I right so far? Tomorrow the Spurs will be in New Orleans to play the Hornets, with this winner also advancing to the Western Conference finals and the Detroit Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic to take the other position in the Eastern Conference finals.
So both of these “winter” sports will finally conclude their 2007-2008 seasons by what, the beginning of summer?
I don’t want to catch a lot of flack here, but don’t you NHL and NBA fans think this is just a little much?
Now, if I’m not mistaken (and that hardly ever happens… LOL), aren’t both of these sports struggling to keep fans in the seats? Don’t you think if, one way or another, they kept their respective seasons kinda like closer to winter, they might do better? By the time these indoor sports get to their playoffs the weather is getting really nice and people are prone to take their discretionary spending in other directions like golf, tennis, baseball, auto racing, and on and on…
These two sports #### up around the first days of Autumn and run through the end of Spring leaving only a three month off season… Personally, I think it’s way too long and both need to be completed by the end of March so that their closure coincides with the beginning of regular season baseball.
Seems to me this could be accomplished by cutting back the number of regular season games. That would give those games a much higher amount of meaning. Next, have fewer teams qualify for the playoffs thus removing a couple of tiers in the pairings. These moves would generate more intense fan interest and act to shorten these seasons back to the days when outdoor pursuits aren’t a competing factor.
I guess on the upside, by the time these indoor sports finally get done you know the NFL is only a month away from training camp...
In many sports you can point to one person who has earned the title of "Best Ever". It might be based upon one sterling effort, like the all-time best time in the 100 meter dash, or the title might be earned over the course of a career's worth of accomplishments... There are those that like to separate a particular sport into eras and then handing out the accolades, and then there are those that like to compare a past great champion to the best individual participating in that sport at this time.
Over the last few days we've seen a couple of posts by people in the Fox Sports Community that brought attention to the individuals participating in various sports. jaguarjoe72 wrote a series entitled
These highlight certain football, baseball and basketball player's accomplishments that earned them consideration as to whether they had attained enough status to be deemed synonymous with the team they played for, and then there was a NASCAR post by RLGuido entitled
Now this last one is getting to the heart of the matter.
So, with this in mind, I'd like to pose a question...
Who are the all-time greatest performers in each of the following sports, or, to borrow from jaguarjoe72, Can we put a face on these sports?
1. Baseball - MLB
2. Basketball - NBA
3. Boxing
4. College Football
5. Golf
6. Hockey
7. NASCAR
8. Professional Football
9. Tennis, Men
10. Tennis, Women
Here are my astute selections:
1. Baseball - MLB
The Say Hey Kid! Willie Mays
Offense, defense, speed, savy, the man had it all...
2. Basketball - NBA
Charisma Personified, Michael Jordan!
Talk about the will to win... And win he did!
3. Boxing
Float like a butterfly... STING like a bee! Muhammad Ali!
I always think of Dandy Don Meredith saying "It ain't braggin' if you can do it!" when I think of this man... Many people hated the mouth, but he truly is "THE GREATEST!"
4. College Football
The All-American Boy... Roger the Dodger! Roger Staubach...
The man characterized as the greatest football player in U.S. Naval Academy History. I think that is much too narrow, he's the greatest to play the collegiate game! A modern day Heisman Trophy winner in a military academy? Army and Notre Dame dominator! He served his country, then led the Dallas Cowboys to glory...
5. Golf
You think it's still too early? I don't... Tiger Woods wins this going away!
Check this out:
The holder of the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Champioship trophies, all at the same time... Nobody else can say that!
6. Hockey
There can't be any other... The Great Gretzky! Wayne Gretzky...
This man's accomplishments in the NHL are on a par with hitting 100 home runs your rookie year in MLB or winning the Grand Slam of Golf for three years running... Wayne Gretzky, without equal in hockey!
7. NASCAR
There already is a man holding the title of "The King" in NASCAR, but was he the greatest ever? I've gotta tip my hat to him, but I'm taking "The Intimadator"! Dale Earnhardt...
A Tribute...
In quest of his eighth NASCAR title that never was to be, Dale is in the lead again!
8. Professional Football
My all-time favorite... Joe Montana!
Four Super Bowl Championships and how many individual records that still stand today? Joe, you're the man!
9.Tennis, Men
There have been other, more flamboyant Champions in this sport, but the quiet one, Pete Sampras wins on the men's side...
He won 14 Grand Slam titles and 11 Grand Masters events... Nuf' said?
10. Tennis, Women
Always the lady, She battled all challengers from the baseline and through pure willpower, she would put them away... Chris Evert!
18 Singles Titles and 3 Doubles Titles in 18 years of Grand Slam tennis defines her, Chris Evert the greatest women's tennis player...
The St. Petersburg City Council just concluded hearing a presentation by the Tampa Bay Rays' management concerning construction of a new bay side, open air ball park in downtown St. Petersburg. The funding plan has five elements none of which are supposed to cost the taxpayers any additional tax dollars. The plan, if approved, is intended to actually yield money to the city and county. These revenue funds could potentially aid local schools among other things. If they can pull this off, it certainly sounds like a winner! Here is a quote from Michael Kalt, the Rays' senior vice president of development and business affairs:
"We think that we can offer fans a more compelling product down on the waterfront -- not just in terms of what happens inside the ballpark -- but the whole experience of coming downtown going to a restaurant getting something to eat, getting something to drink, basically really drawing in the casual fan who's not necessarily someone who's not just coming to watch the game but really is coming more as a social activity. That's the kind of fan we need to grow and attract."
For complete details follow this link to Bay News 9, the local Brighthouse Cable News channel:
As a reformed Mariner fan (I wanted to get that out of the way up front) I want to point out to those of you who are still enthralled with the Major League Baseball team in Seattle that the only thing the owners of this team care about is the bottom line. It’s not a question of fielding a championship team it’s only a question of providing a show, something to draw in paying customers. Look around you Mariner fans, when it was a question of saving baseball in Seattle, the owners actually put some money on the line in terms of a strong management group built with
hardest by the injury bug as they have each already had 9 different players on the disabled list (DL) and we’re only two months into the season. The New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics have also had more than what should be their fair share of injuries as they have had 8 players each on the DL to date. The Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals have each had 7 players on the DL so far, while the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers have all had 6 players go down. Two of the five oldest teams in the league have pretty much avoided the injury bug up until the announcement this 
morning that the Boston Red Sox will lose David Ortiz for at least a month with a wrist injury. Ortiz becomes the third Red Sox player to land on the DL so far. The oldest team in the league right now, the Houston Astros, only has one player on the DL. Is it the water? In Houston??? 
more closely identify with our favorites so it became important for us to wear the team colors. Sports apparel has grown from the days of simply wearing a ball cap or a tee shirt emblazoned with our team’s
logo to some now wearing complete outfits in their team's sanctioned authentic apparel lines. Have you priced a ball cap or tee shirt these days? Next, the stadiums and arenas were more than happy to supply the fan's needs for food and beverages. Today we have to pay ridiculous prices if we want something to eat or drink. On top of this we are normally banned from bringing 
our own snacks inside the stadiums. Couple this with the cost of getting to the various sporting venues. Parking fees, something unheard of in the old days, were begun and have steadily increased to the point that they exceed what a set of two tickets used to cost. Today the cost of fuel has skyrocketed. It seems that now, everywhere a sports fan turns, there is someone standing there with their hand out expecting you to cross it with silver just so you can attend a sporting event. 
venture between the conference, the Columbia Broadcasting System’s Sports Network and Comcast Cable Television. Known as “The MTN”, it features 24 hour a day of exclusive Mountain West Conference athletic events. Next, in 2007, the Big Ten Conference launched its own sports network as 
well. In another joint venture, “The Big Ten Network” came into being with the Big Ten Conference owning 51% while Fox Cable Networks operates the network and owns the minority 49%. So a new idea has come to life in the revenue stream… Today I read where the Southeastern Conference is now considering a television network of 
their own. Considering the conference’s recent successes in football and basketball, it might turn into a very lucrative deal as Fox and CBS would most certainly line up to bid for a partnership similar to the previously mentioned conferences. The trend is clear and I expect to see the other major collegiate conferences join in or they will lose a potential revenue source.
pictured here, who hit .438 with three dingers and nine RBI’s, the Tigers won four straight games in the league championship series where he was named the Most Valuable Player. Blake’s performances were highlighted by a walk off game-winning home run in the 10th inning of a first round SEC Tournament game against South Carolina. LSU enters the national tournament as the 7th seed. Congratulations to LSU! 
Miami (FL) (47-8), fresh off its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship title, will be making its NCAA record 36th consecutive regional appearance this week as they host a four-team regional for the 22nd time. 
consecutive year as they claimed their sixth Big South Conference title in the last eight years. This will mark their eighth tournament seed in school history. 
Despite a 21 – 32 season record, Mount St. Mary’s of the Northeast Conference won the conference’s automatic berth and enters the tournament for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers have the unenviable pleasure of beginning the tournament against the number two seed North Carolina Tar Heels in Raleigh, North Carolina no less… 
