Lots going on this past week in sports, and I apologize about my delay in commenting on a few important basketball topics (can you believe I actually have to work?!?!).
-Definitely excited for the tournament. This is quite possibly my favorite short-term time of the year: the start of March Madness, Opening Day for baseball is just a couple of weeks away, and the Midwest is finally starting to thaw.
-Kansas and Ohio State both pulled the short straws in regards to this tournament draw. Seven teams from the Midwest bracket are ranked in the final top 25 poll of the regular season (the most of any region). How does KU get named the #1 overall seed in the tournament and not play the winner of the play-in game? On principle alone, that is wrong. And Ohio State being ranked as the last #2 seed? Wow....lots of Big East love from the selection committee. Whoever wins this bracket will earn it the hard way, as after the first round, all the games are legitimate toss-ups. As many as five teams have the talent to get out of this region, although KU still appears to be the clear favorite. Can the best player in the country (Evan Turner) beat the best team? And will he even get a chance?
-I listened to Jim Boeheim on ESPN radio Monday morning discussing his preferance to expand the field for the tournament, and I continue to believe it will probably happen even though I don't agree with it. Lets be honest: this is clearly a position taken by most coaches due to job security. Many of them are judged on whether they make it to the tournament, and expansion would allow more leverage to the coaches (who would have increased odds of being selected). I'm not one to complain about more basketball, but I'm tired of hearing about this, "being for the kids;" I have yet to hear a current or former player (who is not a coach) endorse expansion.
-The game that I predict will be the most entertaining from the first two days should be Mizzou-Clemson. Both teams press for 40 minutes and will push every possession; should be extremely fun to watch.
-Tough weekend for Purdue: first they get blasted by Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, only then to find out they have been demoted to a 4-seed while playing upstart Siena in the first round. While this Siena team is missing their top player from last year (Kenny Hasbrouk), they are clearly a dangerous team with lots of tournament experience, having won their opening round games the past two years. Purdue still clearly has the talent advantage, but how fragile is their psyche at this point?
-Finally, great to see my alma mater, little Ohio University, make the Big Dance by winning the MAC tournament (the highest seed ever to win it). OU is a heavy underdog to Georgetown, but maybe Indiana transfer Armon Bassett still has some magic left from Cleveland this past weekend.
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