Mid-majors
All mid-major talk (yes, the non-BCS schools).
Any school stuck with the “mid-major” label hates the label, and rightly so. It’s the defacto way to refer to any non-BCS school – yes, a football term applies to basketball references – and becomes a catchall term for people in the media and the blogosphere.
Is it nice? Probably not. (Ask Lefty Driesell if he ever coached at a mid-major.) Is it here to stay? Yeah.
But the bigger problem isn’t the term mid-major. It’s the money those schools don’t receive because of the BCS.
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Quick tip for any major program seeking to hire a coach in the next few years: Pursue whomever Xavier picks to replace Sean Miller.
Seriously. It’ll save you a lot of time and effort, provided your sales pitch is good enough.
Xavier, along with Gonzaga, is the mid-major no BCS school wants to play. And the coaches are a big reason why.
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My Sunday lament continues…
Davidson, last season’s NCAA tournament Cinderella story, lost Sunday to College of Charleston in the Southern Conference tournament, putting a huge crimp in the Wildcats’ Big Dance hopes.
At 26-7, the ‘Cats could earn an at-large bid, but several factors are conspiring against them.
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One of my most vivid March Madness memories revolves around offense. Insane amounts of offense.
It was 1988. Wyoming was 26-5, had everyone back from a Sweet 16 run the year before, including future NBA players in Fennis Dembo – he of the Sports Illustrated cover – and Eric Leckner. But the Cowboys were blitzed by 10th-seeded Loyola Marymount in the first round of the NCAA tournament, 119-115 (still the second-most points ever scored by a losing team in the Big Dance).
Yes, those Lions, the team that spent the next two years trying to score 200 points in a game and led D-I in scoring in ’88, ’89 and 1990. The team that blitzed defending champ Michigan 149-115 in 1990. The kind of team we haven’t seen since.
Which brings me to this season. Sadly, the current version of the Lions just missed on a chance to go dancing.
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Move over Jodie Meeks. Make room Stephen Curry. Ben Woodside, you have company.
Ryan Toolson officially joined the high-scorers club. The Utah Valley senior scored 63 points in a four-overtime win Thursday against Chicago State.
Yes, 63. Sure, he played 60 minutes, but … wow. Considering only 20 other D-I players have scored more than 60 points in a game, that’s damn impressive.
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The SEC may have the national champs in football, but the conference is hurtin’ in hoops. It doesn’t appear to have any Final Four contenders and barely half of its 12 teams appear to be NCAA tournament contenders (four seems more likely).
Whether one goes by the RPI or kenpom.com’s rankings, the SEC is well behind the other five BCS conferences – and unlikely to rise anytime soon.
It opens up the door for the Mountain West to supplant the Missouri Valley as the best non-BCS conference.
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Move over Steph Curry. Make room for Ben Woodside.
The senior guard tied an NCAA record by hitting 30-of-35 free throws in a 112-111 loss triple overtime loss. It tied a mark by – who else? – LSU’s Pete Maravich and was the highest point total by a D-I player since Arizona State’s Eddie House dumped 61 on Cal.
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Gonzaga’s dismantling (well, second-half dismantling) of Washington State on Wednesday has the Pacific Northwest buzzing.
The Zags are loaded with talent, play defense (once a rarity in Spokane) and can score like usual. That makes ‘em prime Final Four material, along with North Carolina, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Duke and Oklahoma (or so). So there’s that. We’ll see if it happens.
Here’s a better question: Who’s going to beat Gonzaga?
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During a week loaded with great basketball, who knew a mid-major coach would steal the show?
Just not in a good way.
Jimmy Patsos, the coach of Loyola (Md.) devised a way to prevent Davidson star Stephen Curry from scoring on Tuesday night. Curry, a sharpshooter who came into the game averaging more than 30 points a contest, was double-teamed whenever he was on the court. He took three shots and scored zero points.
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What price for a piece of history?
Specifically, what price for George Mason’s 2006 Final Four berth, one of the most memorable NCAA tournament runs ever seen? (Unless you’re a UConn fan. Then it’s just painful.)
The bidding starts at $255. Or $561, depending on your taste.
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