March Madness (TRADEMARK) 2022

In the spirit of returning to some semblance of normalcy, the schools are in for this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
A personal update first: I've been on the shelf since August 2nd with several health issues, so yours truly will not be eligible for assignment to one of the teams we routinely cover during this part of the year. In fact, to my knowledge, we did not send anyone to cover either the ACC or SEC conference tournaments. The last time I was assigned to cover the NCAA tournament was 2013. The last big out of town assignment I worked was the 2015 Belmont Stakes. To say the least, things are changing a lot in the local TV news business. Many stations, if they send anyone at all, send a "one man band," somebody that has to shoot, edit, write and appear on camera. Yeah. Try it some time. It's the proberbial one armed man hanging wallpaper.
Back to the hoops...
I'm working on a little project I gave myself: do a review of how accurate ESPN "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi did on his picks...AFTER the actual bracket comes out. At this point, I can tell you for sure he did get the overall number one seed and the four regional number one seeds right. After that...well, not so much.
But, let's focus on the real bracket.
I think it's going to be almost impossible to pick a winner. The transfer portal, plus the reinvestment of football money by some of the Power 5 conference schools into men's hoops means it's more even than ever. Auburn. Tennessee. Southern Cal. Texas Tech. And don't forget, Baylor won the big enchilada last season. Every time I think I've got a bead on how teams I follow, and their opponents, might do, it gets blown sky high. First off, I'm glad Indiana got in. They were out until they won two games in the Big Ten tourney, and very nearly won a third before Iowa made a Hail Mary, banked three to knock them out. Mike Woodson might just be the guy to bring them back to relevancy. My alma mater, Murray State, ran the table in their final season in the Ohio Valley Conference. Like most stronger mid-majors, they are guard dominated, although 6-10 forward K.J. Williams was the OVC Player of the Year. But we have only two more bigs in our first 8 who play meaningful minutes, so if Williams is outnumbered, we usually struggle. Everybody lost at Auburn this season, but we were pummeled early in the season. It we get by San Francisco, our tourney probably ends vs. Kentucky in Indianapolis.
Ah, Kentucky. They've had some amazing games this season, where they absolutely smashed quality, ranked teams. But, for this season anyway, the SEC is a beast. Several "football schools" have developed, at least for now, powerhouse programs led by quality coaches like Bruce Pearl and Rick Barnes. But UK is still UK. They've got the horses to make it to the Final Four. To me, that depends on two things: how well they defend, and how well they shoot threes. They do everything else really well. And they are better than every team in their region, except Baylor. Funny thing about the other SEC schools when they get into the tournament is how they seem to have one uncharacteristically bad game, or run into a hot team that matches up well with them. And out they go.
As usual, perhaps even more so this season, I have almost no clue about teams from the west. I and most people around here to follow college hoops more religiously than I do seem to discount them due to unfamiliarity. I don't know how good Gonzaga, Arizona, UCLA, USC, et.al., really are.
I do know this: Kentucky can win six in a row over three weekends. I'm not sold on Baylor repeating, much less even getting to New Orleans. The truth is it's wide, wide open. Good luck.

 

I follow basketball for just one month out of the year - and here we are! Thanks @jumpkutz for the tournament assessment. Glad to know my uninformed picks may have just a good a chance as informed picks this year. Maybe it is my year to finally do better than my Mom who actually follows college basketball!

That is a bummer about the local news coverage. Back in the mid-90's I did the one-man-band thing a few times before I switched careers (some people told me this Internet thing could be big). Recently my wife and I were watching a"reporter" on a local station who was doing a story that was not going well. My wife commented on how he probably didn't have a future as a reporter, but I pointed out that guy is usually a producer and he was probably doing this entire package on his own. At the time I figured it might have been one of those days when they were short staffed, but maybe not. Ad revenues just aren't what they used to be (stupid Internet).

 

It's occurred to me that I neglected to mention the plight of Louisville. They're not in, obviously, and won't be in the NIT, or any other post season tourney after going 13-19, 6-14 in the ACC, and bowing out of the conference tournament in the second round to Virginia, 51-50. They did manage to win their first round game against Georgia Tech (who, stunningly, still haven't fired Josh Pastner after six seasons of 94-96, 47–64, conference) 84-74. Not sure why they haven't announced that Mike Pegues and the remnants of Chris Mack's staff won't be back next season, but it's a foregone conclusion. I guess they're waiting to see how soon their replacements are available. The current favorite is Knicks assistant Kenny Payne, a former National Championship (1986) Cardinal player and 10 year assistant/associate head coach under John Calipari at Kentucky. But...he has no head coaching experience.
My personal favorite is Baylor's Scott Drew, who is already being mentioned as a candidate for several vacancies, most notably the one at Georgia and, to a lesser extent, the LSU job. I don't see him leaving Baylor for either of those schools, but jobs are popping up like dandelions as the coaching carousel starts spinning ever faster. Tulsa and Kansas State have parted ways (I love that euphemism for fired or resigned) with Frank Haith and Bruce Weber, respectively. Bobby Hurley at Arizona State, Kevin Keatts at N.C. State and Jeff Capel at Pitt have, supposedly, been given another season to turn things around. But I don't see Drew leaving Waco for any of the other jobs either. A lot depends upon how long Baylor survives in this year's tournament. As the 1 seed in the east region, that could well be another 2-3 weeks. They have a pretty clear path to the regional final. They're obviously favored to beat Norfolk State, would likely be the favorite to beat North Carolina if THEY get past Marquette, then would be prohibitive favorites to beat whomever survives among Saint Mary's, Wyoming, Indiana, UCLA and Akron. 2 seed Kentucky would likely stand in the way of the Bears returning to the Final Four to defend their crown but, by then, Louisville and other schools hoping to lure him away from Waco may have been forced to cut bait and hire someone else to keep from falling too far behind in recruiting. Louisville's other issues are not so easily or quickly solved: they are currently looking for a new president and athletic director, and the final word from the NCAA has yet to be delivered regarding penalties for pending notices of allegations about recruiting violations from 2016-2018. Those are about the Brian Bowen recruitment and fired assistant coach Dino Gaudio's extortion attempt at revealing more violations under Chris Mack. These, of course, come on the heels of the dorm strippers scandal, for which U of L had already been punished. All of this comes on social media speculation that Tom Jurich will be rehired as Louisville AD. I just don't see that happening. It's more likely wishful thinking on the part of boosters and others who thought his dismissal was unjustified. The NCAA would probably not look kindly on a Jurich return. And, as I said, all of this is somewhat moot in the absence of a permanent university president, since Dr. Neeli Bendapudi bolted for Penn State after only 43 months at Louisville. The last time they needed to find a new president, it took the board of trustees almost two years and two interim presidents.

 

Last coaching post. Promise. Georgia stole Florida's Mike White who, supposedly, might have been on his way out anyway. South Carolina fired Frank Martin. Bruce Weber out at K-State. Frank Haith gone at Tulsa. So, the biggest jobs open at the moment: Louisville, Florida, Kansas State, Maryland, South Carolina, LSU and Missouri. The only other job worth mentioning that's available is UMass, former home of Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Rick Pitino and John Calipari. It's been awhile since they've been relevant.

 

IU hits three shots outside the paint and grinds out a playin win on the back of their defense, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and a super athletic sub who managed a career high scoring night.

 

@BarryWhite Have the Hoosiers knocking off St Mary’s next.
@jumpkutz James, I’ll give you a little insight on the west coast teams. Do like your alma mater to get past the Dons of San Fran, but that should be a fun game to watch.
USC: not as good as their Elite 8 team, have them losing first round, but even if they win one, that’s it.

UCLA: most experts had them as a preseason Final 4. They’ve been hit w/Covid issues and long term injuries to their 2 best players. They healthy now, but it’s hard to say they are capable of beating a #1 seed at Sweet 16 if they get that far.

Gonzaga: Simply put they are a blue blood now. Timme returning gave them instant Final 4 credentials. Chet Holmgren if you haven’t seen him is the goods. He looks like he’ll be broken in half with his frame, but his skill set is shockingly good. One of the teams that can certainly cut down the nets in New Orleans.

Arizona: Best for last . How good are we? really good. 31-3, won at Illinois, lost by 4 in Knoxville (Tennessee didn’t lose a game at home), lost to Ucla (our 6th game in 12 days on a Covid makeup), and Colorado @dtowndough total bullshit the Buffs not in. Our game at Gonzaga was re-scheduled because our coach was Mark Few’s first lieutenant and they didn’t want to wait to play each other. We are capable of playing at any tempo even though we want to go. I like us to get to Elite 8, and then anything after that is gravy. Would I be surprised to see a repeat of Arizona being the Top Cat over Kentucky ala 1997 in New Orleans? Nope, but I refuse to give the SCJ Kiss of Death.

 

GERONIMO!!!!!!

 

Numerous reports today say Knicks assistant Kenny Payne to Louisville is a done deal.

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...cardinals-player-knicks-assistant/7056983001/

 

Play-In games were entertaining, none better then the Notre Dame - Rutgers 2OT game that went past midnight in Ohio where the game was being played…of course the Irish ended up winning on St Patrick’s Day!!

 

@SoCalJoe anything is possible with IU. Complete collapses, unexpected comebacks, and even occasionally someone who’s supposed to hit 3 pointers actually does so. This team will probably go as far as TJD and Xavier Johnson drag them but they’re going to need a wildcard to go very far.

 

It's being called the worst NCAA tournament loss in school history...and that's saying something when you're talking about the University of Kentucky. On hindsight, I should have seen it coming. And I'm not too surprised about it. John Calipari's MO the past few seasons hasn't included guys who are above average shooters. It's part of the reason they've not had much post season success in recent seasons. But let's give some credit to Saint Peter's. They made the plays, and shots, at crunch time that the Wildcats didn't. There's going to be some serious soul searching in Lexington this off season. Now their fan base is already talking about football season. Mark Stoops has the program at an all time high water mark, and they're genuinely excited about it.
I was sweating bullets over the mighty Racers, but they made the plays at crunch time too, beating an excellent San Francisco team. We had no answer for the Dons' Jamaree Bouyea, who almost single handedly won the game for them. Murray State had two role players step up big in the game...guard Trae Hannibal and forward Jordan Skipper-Brown. Hannibal kept us close throughout with his dribble penetration and acrobatic layups, several while being fouled. Skipper-Brown corraled many important rebounds and sunk 4 straight free throws at the end of OT, despite being a career 56% shooter from the charity stripe. So we get the Peacocks instead of the Wildcats. I don't know how we match up with them, position wise, but I feel better about our chances against them than Kentucky.
Sorry about the Hoosiers Barry. I was actually hoping they would make a little run. I was glad they played their way in during the conference tournament, then won their First Four game in Dayton. It looks like Mike Woodson is the coaching answer after too many swings and misses, post Bobby.
Joe, I'm still impressed with UCLA. Arizona and Gonzaga might be better, but the Bruins are gonna be a tough out. Mick Cronin has done a heck of a job resurrecting college basketball's winningest legacy. I would love to go to a game at Pauley Pavilion sometime, if for no other reason to see all of those National Championship banners hanging from the rafters. I believe those are still the only banners hanging there.
Knicks assistant Kenny Payne was hired and introduced this morning as the University of Louisville's 23rd men's head basketball coach. To review, he was a member of the Card's 1986 National Championship team, spent a decade under Calipari at UK, and was an assistant at Oregon for five years pryor to moving to Lexington. He was in his second season as an assistant to Tom Thibodeau in New York. I hope he succeeds wildly, but he has no head coaching experience, save for two occasions when Calipari was tossed.

 

As usual the opening 2 days were stellar! Obviously UK upset was an all-time shocker, but these mid-majors w/Jrs & Srs aren’t afraid of the 5 star Freshmen. @jumpkutz Good luck to Murray St, absolutely love them or St Peter’s being an automatic Sweet 16.

Arizona cruised, but one thing is apparent, Kerr Kiisa doesn’t comeback this tournament, no way Cats going to Final 4. The amount of turnovers w/out him yesterday will get them beat.

One big takeaway that scares me, is the refs. I did it for 20 years and it is incredibly difficult, but there has been some inexcusable calls/missed calls that I hope don’t occur later in the tourney:

Richmond was full value in win over Iowa, but down by 3, Iowa’s All-American was going for the tie, and his arm was hit (ref was standing watching), shot ended up 5 feet short..WTF

UT-Chattanooga lost by a point, they had the most obvious goal-tending call imaginable not called (how did all 3 miss it??).

Should be an epic weekend!!

 

@jumpkutz I was skeptical about IU ‘s chances but I didn’t expect defense to be shredded the way it was. The Gaels were the better team in every way possible.

 

@BarryWhite I didn't expect them to get too far either. I'm just glad they got in, and appear to be returning to relevancy again under Woodson. For purely professional reasons (OK, a few personal reasons too) I will go to my grave hoping U of L, UK, and IU not only make the big dance every season, but make it to at least the second weekend, no matter how strong or weak they may be. Tall order, I know, but I have my reasons.
Right now, I'm still in a state of mourning over the demise of the mighty Murray State Racers. Yes, we were the higher seed, and Charles Barkley picked us. But Saint Peter's is for real. I don't know how they flew under the radar all season, but they're GOOD. They defend, block out and get physical in the way Naismith HOF'er Calvin Murphy described his neighborhood pickup games growing up: "In my old hood, it was 'no autopsy, no foul.'"

 

The Sweet 16: Arkansas, Gonzaga, Michigan, Villanova, Texas Tech, Duke, Houston, Arizona, Saint Peter's, Purdue, Providence, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, Iowa State, Miami (FL). Of all the SEC teams, which was supposedly the strongest among the Power 5 conferences this season, who would've picked the Razorbacks to make it to the second weekend of the Big Dance? And they're the only ones left standing from the SEC.

 

Let’s not pretend that the cache and more importantly the tv ratings don’t play a role on who gets in. The Pac 12 is somehow only a 3 bid league now because nobody out East watches, and the west coast not exactly bring viewers to the table. The Big 10 gets 8/9 every year and big shock those markets watch. Pac still has 2 of the 3 teams left, Big 10 7 of its teams gone.

Sweet 16 should be fantastic. New arenas/settings can cause those hot shooting teams to struggle so take those results w/a grain of salt.

 

Didn’t think we’d get another small Jesuit school (Gonzaga fits the description, but they’re closer to a blue blood then a Cinderella) make an improbable run after Sister Jean and Loyola of Chicago’s crazy run to the Final 4, but just a few years later the ultimate glass slipper is here;

The first EVER 15 seed in the Elite 8. Congrats to St. Peter’s…amazing

 

Of the four #1 seeds, I'll bet Kansas was the least favorite of bracketologists...or, at least, of those who filled one out, officially or unofficially. Now they're the only one left standing. Incredible. Saint Peter's is for real. They're tough, especially defensively.

 

Duke, Carolina, Kansas and Nova to NOLA. All capable of winning the whole thing. Love me some Jay Wright. Maybe the most underrated college coach working (although he made the Naismith HOF last year). I’ll be rooting for them. The Peacocks sure turned into pumpkins today. But they sure captured the country’s imagination. A day like today was bound to happen. Congrats to them.
Duke-Carolina. Kansas-Villanova.
Who do ya’ like?

 

I went to high school with Jeff Lebo who went on to play at North Carolina (was noted for setting the UNC record for most consecutive free throws) and ever since then I rooted for UNC and against Duke. However I always had respect for Coach K and I've had conflicted emotions this tournament - like the Grinch hearing the Whos on Christmas morning. I may actually want Duke to win so he can go out on a high note.