NEWS AND NOTES (SEASON RESET)
-So, it’s the day after the Super Bowl. That means that between now and April 3rd college basketball is the biggest sport in the country. We’ve been here since the first day of the season, and really since even before that, and we kind of like to reset things when conference play begins, and again on the day after the Super Bowl because it’s at those two periods where there is a spike in interest. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, then great! If you’ve been with us since the start of conference play, then great! If you’re just now finding us, then welcome!
Bracketology is one of the things that we do, and we are actually doing it in three different ways. We have Jon Teitel, who attempts to guess the actual Selection Committee, and over the past three years has been one of the most accurate at doing this. Last year he had an amazing 65 out of 68 seeded exactly correct or within one line of it. Most people brag if they get that many in the field correctly. He got that many, and actually had them seeded correctly. We also have a selection committee of our own where the staff collectively selects and seeds the teams. This isn’t an attempt to guess the real committee, but rather doing it the way we would do it if we were in charge. And, we actually now have individuals that post their own brackets and open it up to criticism. CLICK HERE for our BRACKETOLOGY PAGE, or just go to the top of the screen.
We also have our own Power Rating, or Joby’s Nitty Gritty Rankings as we call it, that attempts to measure what the selection committee will do. The way it works is…well…I really don’t know how it works. Joby Fortson does it, and I like it as much as any of the other ones because it has actually predicted some of the strange selections that the committee has made in recent years. You can look at that BY CLICKING HERE
-There are also daily write-ups of all of that day’s action where we explain why a game is important, as well as a recap of the day before.
-We also have three weekly video podcasts that we record each week. There’s the Hoops HD Report, which is the main show that looks at all of the power conferences/multi-bid conferences as well as any of other teams that are inside the bubble, we do Under the Radar, which covers all of the other leagues, and we have a Bracket Rundown Podcast where we build an NCAA Tournament bracket and discuss all the teams as we do it.
There is also an Under the Radar Game of the Day that Chad Sherwood writes up. CLICK HERE for today’s game
-Again, if you’re just tuning in you’ve missed quite a bit of excitement. Some of the big storylines are Baylor, who was unranked and barely receiving votes when the season began, and has now been ranked as high as #1 and in line to get a #1 seed. Florida State is also high in the rankings after starting off unranked.
-Northwestern, who has never made the NCAA Tournament, is now in prime position to make it, and that’s been one of the bigger and more exciting stories of the season.
-UConn, who started off ranked in the teens, is now nowhere to be found and is probably the biggest surprise on the other end of the spectrum. Syracuse, Texas, and Rhode Island have also been busts.
-Duke has dealt with injuries, a star player who keeps tripping people, a head coach who needed to miss some time due to back surgery, and has lost some games you’d expect them to win, but just now appears to be turning it back around.
-Gonzaga is your #1 team. I don’t know if I think they are the best team in the nation, but I do think they are among the top four. They only have one ranked team remaining on their schedule prior to the conference tournament, so it’s possible that they’ll run the table and finish not just ranked #1, but undefeated as well.
-If you are just now putting college basketball on your front burner, then I really hope that you did so before Saturday. It was one of the craziest days of college basketball that I can remember, and that’s not hyperbole. It was fantastic! We will be recording our Hoops HD Report tonight, so be sure and look out for that because we’ll get you all caught up.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is a match-up between two likely protected seeds. Virginia is coming off a rather surprising loss (at least to me) against Syracuse over the weekend, but they flattened Louisville at Louisville when they played earlier in the year. This has been a rough match-up for the Cardinals in recent years and tonight may not be any different.
-ALBANY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE (America East). The Team of the People!!!! They’re fighting to finish in the top half of the America East standings and host a conference tournament game.
-KANSAS AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve). The first meeting between these two was a thriller with Kansas needing overtime to win at home in a finish that was somewhat controversial. K State was a fringe bubble team, but they’re coming off the biggest win of the season, and will have a huge head of steam when it comes to the momentum they have. It’s a rivalry game between a Kansas team that’s fighting for a spot on the #1 line and a K State team that’s trying to drastically improve their resume and win the bragging rights. For now.