Punch My Ticket, Basketball Gods: I Got Me Some Dance Shoes!

The brackets are almost upon us, 2009.

Out of 31 automatic bids, 27 are assured as of this Saturday night before the Selection Sunday.

Who is left to be qualified for sure? The ACC, Big Ten, SEC and...the Southland Conference. Who?

Wow.

You didn't expect that one, did you?

More on that conference later.

But first, let's start on the surprise finishers who got our attention today and this week to force an otherwise unwelcomed invite to the Crazy Brackets of the 65 tomorrow.

1. USC. Trojans. Way to go, Lisa Horne. Are you excited?

They qualify by making a great tourney run. How many other PAC-10 teams will go? UCLA, Arizona State, California, Washington...

That might be it. Arizona may have got the "Bush push" from SoCal. Sorry, Tuscon. South LA punched a ticket today.

2. Hard to say, really. Nothing strikes me as too out of the ordinary. Of course, tomorrow there is no UNC in the Atlantic Coast championship but in its place Florida State;  Duke can still ruin those automatic invite dreams for surprsing FSU. Pundits think the Seminoles are in regardless.

Michigan State is knocked out of the Big Ten Tourney; Purdue or Ohio State will get the sure bid, which were both for sure invitees anyway.

So I guess the number two "most surprising unwanted guest" would be Cleveland State. The Horizon League should also get regular season champ and all season long ranked Butler. Not so easy for the other small time (second tier) confernences to achieve, except maybe the Missouri Valley and West Coast. All the other small conferences will get one.

Who else ? I will go alphabetically.

3. Binghampton in the America East. Good luck. You need all the moxy you can get from experience in those 23 wins and 8 losses.

4. East Tennessee State from the Atlantic Sun. 10 losses. I think 11 are soon to come. But who knows? Gas is cheap and the Dow Jones was well below 7,000 points last week.

Who knew? Let's dance!

5. Temple from the Atlantic 10. Okay, come to think of it, this was somewhat of a surprise. Temple was in a three way tie for the regular season second place with an 11-5 record. Xavier was only 12-4 regular season, one ahead of Rhode Island and Dayton, too. Cra*p shoot and competitive conference, for certain.

Congratulations, Owls. You mader some fellow conference members upset. That is, unless both Xavier and Dayton still get invited to the Big Dance. Maybe one of them, but three teams from this conference would be highly unlikely.

The Philly school has disappointed someone good in western Ohio. Good luck in the NIT! You might be overqualified for that tourney, Flyers or Bearcats...

6. Louisville from the Big East. They avoided deadly OT with Syracuse. No surprise, except that 3 Big East teams may be seeded as number ones tomorrow.

That would be unprecedented. Pitt, UConn, and the Cardinals?

Not bad. Even if the conference has 16 members. The ACC has 12. And they are so supposed to be pretty good.

7. The Big Sky has Portland State. Minor upset in that Weber State from Salt Lake was favored all season; this too shall pass. Good luck to the latter in the NIT. Automatic bid to the Little Dance of 32 for the regular season record!

8. Radford from the Big South. Was this the one with national charmer Davidson and last year's individual hero Steven Curry? Sorry, built up and much anticipated first round script! Radford it is. But Curry could be a great draw for the NIT, especially if he gets to Madison Sqare. 100 points in the last two games? Sponsors and marketers can only pray.

9. Big 12 got automatic for the people (REM reference) Missouri. No surprise to me, I predicted it. Kansas and...Oklahoma (Texas? A & M) Yeah, Sooners and Jayhawks, you-all got national followings, but I was always with the Tigers.

See you all in the Dance. Even Texas teams, y'all.

10. Big West? Cal State-Northridge is pushing Pacific down as we speak... (10:52 Pacific Time).

11. Colonial: VCU. That is in Richmond, VA.

12. Conference USA: Memphis. Watch out, they might be the best in the land. Or they might be a huge fourth loss of the season upset.

Who knows? Calipari? I doubt that they go to the Finals again, but really: who knows? You don't, don't kid yourself or anyone else. Let's watch this Thursday through Saturday.

13. Cornell won the Ivy League. That is in Ithaca, New York. I hear it's pretty cold there. I also have read my share of Vonnegut, who is originally from my home state of Indiana.

You see? That is Ivy League info, and I am here to parlay.

14. Siena wins the MAAC. I forget what and where those are. Maybe New York. It's late; forgive me.

15. Akron upsets Buffalo for the MAC title! The Zips do home town hero Bron-Bron proud.

Let the King James Bible Revival contin-yah! (Shout out to the pros in northern Erie regions, and maybe even JW...not like he really reads what I write, but...again: who knows? Who loves ya?)

16. Morgan State and the MEAC! I predict that they exit meekly. Where is Morgan State? I have known these things...

I really do like to know, simply for the love of geography.

SIDENOTE: Pacific and Cal St-Northridge are tied at 61 with 5 secs to go... (Remember the Big West? Confrmed: OT!! Baby.)

I need to go faster.

17. Northern Iowa for the aforementioned MVC. They say that Creighton merits an open invitation, too.

Sorry Illinois State. You started strong and sputtered. But the NIT looks good. And there is always the CBI and newly established CIPT. Seriously. The magic number is 129 now.

18. Mountain West: Utah. BYU and SDSU are good enough, too. UNLV and UNM might do damage in the NIT. I said might.

19. Northeast: Robert Morris. Did they oust the feisty Catamounts of Vermont? Oh well. Robert Morris always make me think of Big Tobacco. Can you help me out on that one, Wrench Wizzard?

20. Ohio Valley: Morehead State. That is in Kentucky.

21. Patriot: American. Fitting.

22. Southern: Chattanooga. Hello, Volfan69! Good luck! Hope you don't get Syracuse! In overtime? Not a chance.

23. Summit League: North Dakota State. You have to like the Bison. I like this new league. I have blogged a bit about it. The Bison might be extinct come Saturday March 21.

We shall see. Any thoughts, Tom Brokaw?

24. Sun Belt: Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers produce some NBA talent. Word.

25. SWAC. Alabama State. UAB deserves your spot more than you, but alas, the Mike Davis/Robert Vaden show must end in lesser venues...God bless my Hoosier brothers.

26. WAC: Utah State. As expected. 30 wins. Go Aggies!

27. West Coast: Gonzaga. And many think that St, Mary's of California is in, too.

Good luck with them.

And that is it! Manana, we got  the three big conferences that qualify all theirs regardless, Duke and FSU, Purdue and Ohio State, Tennessee and Miss State...Well then again, Mississippi State? Double check that.

And then finally: the Southland Conference!!!

I promised. My word is my bond.

Tomorrow will be decided between UT-Antonio and Stephen F. Austin. My money is with the Texas team (wink, wink).

And post-finally, Cal State Northridge outlasted Pacific in Anaheim late tonight.

There was a big quake epicentered in Northridge north of LA in 1994.

No predictions for them or their team in 2009.

Best of luck.

And my favorite thought of a Final Four this year? BYU versus Wake Forest, Utah State against Purdue.

My worst scenario but much more likely?

UNC v. UCONN, Pitt v. a western team...ugh...UCLA.

I attended there, but Howland is a beast.

And that is it for now!

Have a great rest of the weekend.

PapaClinch

PS: My highschool made it to semi-finals for 4A for the first time since 1999. They lost to Arizona-bound Jason Gardner then.

They have a six foot senior who is IU-Bloomington bound now. I hope they win the Hoosier title. Peace.

Have I Been Living Under a Log? The Suns have Swift???!!!

Oh my kelly scott!!!!!! ?????? !!!!!!!!

This is huge.

Okay, maybe I am over-reacting to a late season acquisition or  complete ignorance of the fact by yours truly that he was on their IR roster, perhaps, and maybe the Suns won't even make the playoffs with a month left in the regular season with him healthy now...

But they got Shaq, Stoudamire and Swift...And a lot of good smaller guys.

Can they peak at the end at the expense of the Mavs or #7?

Maybe not.

But Swift might be the difference this year, and quite possibly bigger next year.

Stromile Swift (young and explosive with experience) is a potential big cog of a team that has a lot of talent! Or am I wrong here? Am i wrong to think that he is like Tyrus Thomas or Dandridge (sorry, I meant LaMarcus Aldridge) of Portland, as far as bigs above the rim?

What do you know?

Robin Lopez, Louis Amundsen (is that his first name?) and Dudley are bigs, too.

If the Suns used their depth and ran like Nash and the rest are used to, this team could do things. With Shaqalack.

Oh. But without Amar'e. I guess he is hurt.

That hurts. Stoudamire is the key to making Shaq and the rebounding work...

Poor O'Neal. Stuck on 4 rings...And Nash with none, not to mention Grant Hill or Jason Richardson...

(More later hopefully. Comment away to get me more into this...)

What do you stay?

Is Swift a non-factor at this point with a month to go?

PapaClinch

 

My Response to the Mountain West Playoff Proposal

This was my reply to one of the following articles about the new Proposal from the Mountain West Conference to solve the unfairness of the BCS system:

• Mountain West Proposes BCS Tournament Deseret News
   • MWC Proposes College Football Playoff Provo Daily Herald
   • Conference Announces BCS Proposal Salt Lake Tribune
   • Proposal Could End Nonsense Called BCS Deseret News

"I blog on FoxSports.com; I proposed a Regional Champ format the first 2 weekends of December to whiddle the numbers down to 4 by New Year's; there is an option for 16 or 8 at the beginning of December before the bowls.

That way, all the BCS games are still intact and the final four teams play once at New Year's and the final game a week later, as currently scheduled.

It would be like this:

Dec.1 Utah versus Oregon, USC versus Boise State (WEST)

Florida v. Georgia Tech, 'Bama v. Va Tech (SOUTH)

Penn St. v. Texas Tech, Georgia v. Ohio St. (EAST)

Texas v. Ole Miss, Oklahoma v. TCU (SOUTHWEST)

This includes 16 teams (or 8 ), but is simply a Regional pairing at the end of the regular season, much like Conference championships.

The season could be a normal 12 games, plus either 1 or 2 games in the Regional Championships in December.

The BCS bowls and the rest would continue as always, only a rotating two semi-finals and a final FAIR championship the week after New Year's.

Too bad the MWC doesn't have me."

This is the blog post I wrote of this originally, if you care...

A Perfect Solution to the BCS Championship Quagmire---But this is Good! Really!   posted Sunday, January 11, 8:53PM

Tell me what you think.

PapaClinch

It's March in Indiana; College Teams' Prospects for Postseason Hopes

This is about Division 1 basketball, which includes 343 total teams in most of the 50 states in 2009. I am featuring Indiana schools, which totals about 10.

First of all, I hate to lead off with the second state school Purdue University Boilermakers, but they deserve it.

They are one of the best teams in the Big Ten and the nation. I wish them well. They always seem to underwhelm in March at tournament time; I wish that they could go to the Final Four this year as much as I love to see them lose to my alma mater IU. I think their talent is good enough, we shall see how the basketball gods react come Big Dance time.

By the way, IU is not in contention for the post season this year.

I really like (as a rival, RESPECT) some of the Boiler  players. Robbie Hummel, 6'7" SF, if healthy, is exciting to watch and they have many good guards and a few good big men.

Johnson, 6'11" C, has received acclaim as the best in the Big Ten, and the guards Moore, Kramer and Keaton seem very tough to me. They also have two 5'9" players that get playing time.

They are 22-7 (11-5), tied for second in the Big Ten with Illinois behind Michigan State. I do wish that they would take advantage of their talent and grit this year. Especially since Indiana is down.

Butler is next in the rankings. They are 25-4 overall and 15-3 at the top of the Horizon League. Even if they lose the conference tourney, they should still be invited to the NCAAs.

They have a good freshman named Hayward who is a complete player at 6'7". I don't know a lot about the rest of the team. They did have mid-season three game losing streak.

Valparaiso, in the same conference, is having a poor year, 9-21 (5-13). These guys usually do some special things in March, but probably not this year. It would be unlikely that they would sweep their tournament to get an automatic qualifier to the Big Dance. That could possibly dislodge the Bulldogs of Butler  to the NIT, but not likely in either case.

Next best: Notre Dame. They lost a tough one yesterday to number one U Conn; their record is underwhelming but everyone knows they are good. They are in the best conference in the nation, the Big East, and I suspect they will have the record and SOS and wins to get in.

The Irish, at 16-12 (7-9), should get in, I think, especially if they represent well in the Big East tournament.

16-12 is good enough with their schedule, how about 19-14? I think so.

So that is four teams, three most likely going to the NCAA. Who is next best among IUPUI, Evansville, Indiana State, Ball State, IPFW?

Oh, and Indiana. IU has the worst record (6-22, 1-15), but I would argue they are the best of the rest. Or, in other words, after Purdue, Butler and Notre Dame, maybe only the Ball State Cardinals are better. More on them in a sec.

IU has an atrocious Big Ten record but they have been very competitive in many games against good teams. The close losses skew their real strength. It didn't help that they finished the pre-conference with poor losses to Lipscomb and Northeastern, one a huge comeback reminiscent of their home collapse to Michigan. Many other games came down to the wire or were close in the last few minutes; the Hoosiers should hold their heads high despite the losses.

A win in the Big Ten tourney would be great---damaging to any hopes of aspiring NCAA Northwestern or Minnesota, but Iowa is most likely the future opponnent, their one Big Ten win thus far.

Perhaps Evansville is more posied, with a record of 17-12, 8-10 in a down Missouri Valley Conference. I think this record, with a couple more wins, gets them into the NIT. If not the secondary March tourney, they are locks (in my opinion) for the College Basketball Invitational (16 teams) or the new CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournamnet (I call it the CIPT).

The Purple Aces are fifth in the MVC; one will go to the NCAA tournament of 65, at least two to the NIT field of 32, maybe more.

Not so fast Indiana State Sycamores; they are 10-20 (7-11) in the Missour Valley, and look to be watching their Hoosier compadres this March after their MVC tournament, barring a Larry Bird alma mater turn around miracle. Not likely.

Upon further review, Ball State ( the third state school ) has accomplished more than I realized. Disregarding their underwhelming 13-14 overall record, they are 7-7 in the Mid American Conference WEST division, which has them at first! Everybody else among those six (the Eastern Division has 7) is 6-8, 5-9, 5-9, 4-10, 4-10.

Way to go Cards! Problem is, the Eastern Division has superior teams, and it is not likely Ball State can prevail in their tourney. The project the MAC to only get one team in the Big Dance.

But and however, if the Cardinals finish strong with a above .500 record, they could potentially be invited to the NIT (not so likely), but at least the CBI or CIPT.

Good luck, Cards. I like to see them succeed. I remember seeing a lot of Indiana high school boys doing well with them back in the early 1990s; they almost upset powerhouse UNLV in the first round in 1990.

Speaking of Ball State players...What is up with Bonzie Wells? Is he making a fortune overseas?

OK, last two: IUPUI and IPFW. The Summit League, one of my underdog favorites.

IUPUI ( I still don't know their nickname very well), might be in good shape for a post season invite. Maybe not the NCAA or NIT, but 16-13 (9-9) might be good enough. Let's see how they finish.

IPFW, a new D-1 school lead by young former Hoosier firebrand Dane Fife, is struggling but I see improvement in some of their wins.

The Mastadons are 13-16 (8-10). Not too shabby. They have been in D-1 existence for perhaps 3 or 4 years? I like their progress.

So, there it is. Thge state of the 10 or so Indiana D-1 teams. Despite IU being down, the state is doing ok. Props to Evansville and good luck to Ball State, IUPUI, and the other better record teams vying for post season status.

March is here! Enjoy! Hoosier related or no.

Lastly, on an organizational and geographic note, I wanted to break down all the states that the Indiana teams are linked to, per conference. Indiana is represented by one or two schools.

Big Ten: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa.

Big East: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin

Horizon: Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin

Missouri Valley: Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas

Mid American: New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois

Summit: Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah

How many states is that? At least half, no?

Plus DC, which is practically Virginia.

PapaClinch

 1. Indiana 2. Ohio 3. New York 4. Connecticut 5. Rhode Island 6. New Jersey 7. Pennsylvania 8. DC 9. West Virginia 10. Kentucky 11. Ilinois 12. Michigan 13. Wisconsin 14. Minnesota 15. Iowa 16. South Dakota 17. North Dakota 18. Utah 19. Louisiana 20. Oklahoma 21. Missouri 22. Nebraska 23. Florida

Lot of territory, lot of people.

Maybe Indiana truly is the center of the basketball universe.

Or is it just me: a southern Indiana kid with parents from Mass and has lived a lot on the West Coast and Intermountain west, and now the DC area?