Taking a spin around the world of sports

It would not be surprising to see three or four Big East teams in the Elite Eight, and even two or three in the Final Four. Of course, anyone can get hot in March, but the Big East teams have the advantage of having faced the heat all season.

-Brandon Christol, Feb. 23, 2009, from the blog "Wait 'til this Year"


I know, I shouldn't toot my own horn, but it's my blog and I needed to make myself feel good about something after a weekend filled with tragedy and despair.

Louisville had a chance to make it three Big East teams in the Final Four, but the Cardinals--normally a second half team--absolutely folded up their tent in the second half against Michigan State on Sunday. They were outscored 34-25 in the latter half, and shot 10-18 from the free throw line for the game. They shot just 38% from the field and were outrebounded by eight. Not a strong performance by the top overall seed in the tournament. So only two Big East teams will head to Detroit, but still an incredible tournament for the conference.

On the other side of the bracket, I cannot wait to see Villanova's defense go up against UNC's offense. North Carolina has averaged 89 points in their four tourney victories, but Villanova shut down a good Duke team in the regional semifinal and has allowed just 66 points per game in the tourney. They play great team defense, but UNC has numerous weapons. Should be fun.

One reason I'm left with zero (that's right: zip, zilch, nada) Final Four teams in my bracket is because of those all-important free throws. Here are the free throw numbers for my Final Four teams in the games in which they were eliminated:

Memphis: 18-32 (56%)
Pitt: 21-29 (72%)
Louisville: 10-18 (55%)
Oklahoma: 10-16 (62%)

That's 62% overall. My teams just kept shooting themselves in the foot when they stepped up to the charity stripe. Oh well, you live and you learn. I learned that a bracket can go downhill faster than Bode Miller: I had 14 of 16 Sweet Sixteen teams, yet none of my Final Four picks are booking hotels in Motown.

The Tiger and the O'Hair

Tiger's back, baby. He trailed by five strokes entering the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he stormed back to tie it and nailed a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to win by one. You gotta love it. Tiger's been solid but not quite Tigerish since returning from injury, and then he puts it all together in his final tournament prior to the Masters, which starts April 9. Tiger is now in 12th place in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings despite playing just three tournaments while everyone else in the top 30 has played at least twice that many.

Gregg to close for Cubs

In one of the few decisions that remained for Lou Piniella this spring, Kevin Gregg was named the Cubs closer Sunday, while Carlos Marmol will be the primary set-up man. Gregg has more experience closing (29 saves last year, 32 in 2007) and has not allowed a run in 8.1 innings this spring. I've always thought the closer position is overrated (since the game is often decided in the 7th or 8th inning rather than the 9th), so I'm not too worked up about this decision. It will be nice to have someone with Marmol's stuff to bring on in the late innings, as was the case last year when Marmol put out many a fire. And if Gregg struggles or gets hurt, Marmol should be able to fill in nicely.

Yes, there was snow on the ground today in Chicago, but have no fear--baseball season is just a week away.

Elite East--I mean Eight

How scary did Louisville look Friday night? They dropped an NBA-like 103 points on the only wannabe Cinderella remaining, Arizona. Eight teams remaining, four of them in the Big East. It's sort of like we're about to watch another incarnation of the Big East conference tournament. If that's the case, I wouldn't mind seeing another six overtime thriller, though I'd prefer Pitt doesn't suffer the same fate as they did back in mid-March.

My stab at an upset stabbed me right in the back, as Gonzaga was never in it against an upstart Tarheel team. UNC was just two points shy of the century mark, and they now carry the ACC banner into the Elite Eight.

Michigan St. defeated Kansas in what really did become a battle of coaches. There must have been at least four timeouts called in the final two minutes. Whenever a team calls a timeout, much of the responsibility for the ensuing play must be placed on the coach, as he has the opportunity to draw up a play from scratch. In the end, Tom Izzo outscored Bill Self 7-2 in the final 1:48 to net a Spartan victory.

And Blake Griffin continues to raise his potential NBA stock value. He averaged 30.5 points and 15 rebounds in the first two tournament games, and proved he's nothing if not consistent with a 30 and 14 performance against overmatched Syracuse. That's right: a Big East team lost. Weird, I know.

Elite Eight conference breakdown:

Big East: 4
Big 12: 2
ACC: 1
Big Ten: 1

Who's got a date with the Elite Eight?

Really, Memphis. Really. Reeeaaally. Really?

I admitted in my predictions that I didn't know how good Memphis really was. They were rarely on TV this season, and they play in a conference with teams such as Southern Methodist and Rice (sorry, Andrew). If you go from Christmas through St. Patrick's Day without losing, you're good, no doubt. But it was nearly impossible to tell just how good a team like this was.

Well, we found out Thursday night. Missouri gave Memphis a good ol' Big 12 whoopin'. The Tigers (Mizzou, that is) put up 102 points on a Tiger team (Memphis, that is) that allowed just 58 points per game this season. Interestingly, Missouri coach Mike Anderson coached the last Conference USA team to beat Memphis--he was UAB's coach when they took down Memphis just 62 conference games ago.

So I put too much stock in unknown Memphis, picking them to take down UConn for a Final Four spot. But that's OK, because ...

The Big East continues to carry my bracket, with an assist from the overrated ACC. Villanova schooled Duke Thursday, and made it look easy. The Blue Devils continue to disappoint (unless you're me), as they have not made it to the Elite Eight since 2004. Now if only Gonzaga can make UNC suffer the same fate this evening ...

Pitt continued to look as though they have no interest whatsoever in winning the national championship, yet they pulled out another close victory. They seem destined to fall at some point if they keep this up (they've won by 10, 8 and 5 against weaker opponents), but I have to give them credit for grinding out victories to this point. And credit is also due to the Panthers for making it to their first ever regional final.

UConn handled Little 10 opponent Purdue with relative ease, transforming them into a perimeter team with the imposing presence of Hasheem Thabeet down low. Michigan State now carries the torch for the Big Ten, as they face Kansas in a sweet coaching match up--Tom Izzo vs. Bill Self. Sweet announcing match up as well--that's right, Gus Johnson will be doing this one, as well as the Louisville-Arizona game. Who wants a buzzer beater? I do! I do!

It's March! Let the Madness begin

The month of March starts off with a bang as Illinois hosts Michigan State (3 pm, CBS). It's senior day at Assembly Hall, which is a good sign for the Illini: they've won nine straight senior day games.

This is the game I've been waiting for: #1 vs. #2 in the Big Ten; #9 vs. #20 in the nation. This game will go a long way toward determining Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament seeding, and will help fans get a better sense of how good Illinois really is. This won't be their first big game: they lost to Clemson by two in December, defeated Missouri by 16 a few weeks later, and lost a tough one at Michigan State in mid-January. They've also played well against Purdue, sweeping the season series.

According to ESPN.com, the Illini enter this match-up with the nation's second-ranked defense, allowing just 55.7 points per game. It's unlikely that Illinois can launch themselves to the regular season conference title, as the Spartans need just one win in their last three games to secure that honor, but Illinois is battling Purdue for second place, and would love to win their last two (@ Penn State, Thursday at 8) to maintain confidence heading into the conference tourney.

Should be a good one! Go Illini!

Cham-pain

33 total points

0 free throws attempted

I wanted to be ill as I watched Ill. put together one of the more offensive offensive displays in Assembly Hall history last night. The Illini were like terrible battleship players (they couldn't sink anything). If they were plumbers, they'd have been fired (they couldn't drain anything). If they were a movie, they'd be The Natural (they sucked).

OK, sorry, I was just trying to distract myself from disturbing facts such as these:

• Illinois lost to Penn State on Wednesday by a score of 38-33. No, the game was not forfeited at halftime; that was the final.
  
• Illinois attempted zero free throws, the first time in school history that has happened.
  
• The teams shot a combined 29 percent from the field. I'm pretty sure Chris Kawakita and I shoot a higher percentage when we play horse, and most of our shots are from at least 30 feet away, or involve our feet, head, back, knee, non-dominant hand, a folding chair, a wall, a pillar, a nearby child, an orange cone, the bleachers, the ceiling, a cell phone, a door, the hoop at the other end of the court, an animal, a table, the scoreboard, or the shot clock.
  
• The teams combined for the lowest point total in D I since 2005.
• Illinois had six points with under eight minutes to go in the first half.
• Illinois had 29 points with 10:21 to go in the game, scored a basket with six minutes left, then another basket with about two minutes left, and that was it. Repeat: 29 points with 10:21 left. Two. More. Baskets. The. Rest. Of. The. Game.
  

Anyways, the loss drops the Illini to third place in the Big Ten, and means it would take a miracle for them to overtake Michigan State for the regular season title. But they're still in good position to get a top seed in the Big Ten tournament, and they need to move forward and pretend this game never happened.

Go Illi--I just threw up a little in my mouth.

A Look Back

The Illini had a good day on Tuesday without even taking the court. As some bloggers predicted, Purdue stepped it up with a big win over Michigan State, giving the Illini a realistic chance of catching the Spartans in the Big Ten. Here are the updated Big Ten standings:

TEAM	CONF. W-L	OVERALL W-L
Michigan State	10-3	20-5
Illinois	9-4	21-5
Purdue	9-4	20-6
Ohio State	7-5	17-6
Minnesota	7-6	19-6
Penn State	7-6	18-8
Wisconsin	7-6	16-9
Michigan	6-7	16-10
Northwestern	4-8	13-10
Iowa	3-10	13-13
Indiana	1-11	6-18

Michigan State lost for the first time on the road, as they were pasted 72-54. It was a three-point game at halftime, but Purdue dominated the second half. It looks like it will be an exciting final three weeks in the Big Ten! And I won my free sports bet at centsports.com!


My other prediction was in the NBA. The Bucks did indeed topple the Pistons, but it wasn't their offense that did the trick--it was their D. Milwaukee registered a 92-86 upset victory, and is now two games behind Detroit for the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls are just 2.5 games behind the Bucks, which is absurd, because that means they're 2.5 games out of a playoff spot, and the Bulls deserve a playoff spot about as much as Alfonso Soriano deserves a Career Postseason Achievement award. I'm selfishly glad the Bulls have a shot at the playoffs, but seriously: why does the NBA allow so many teams into the playoffs? It's Bulloney.

A Look Ahead

It's a Big Night in the Big Ten, as first place (5) Michigan State takes on third place (21) Purdue in West Lafayette. MSU fears not being on the road, as they are one of two teams (UConn) to be undefeated away from home this season.
Illinois is jammed between these two teams in the standings, so they'll keep a close eye on this one. It might be the last best hope the Illini have to pull within one game of first, as a Purdue victory could mean that an Illini win against MSU on March 1 would launch them into a tie with the Spartans.

This should be a great battle, and I think MSU's road magic has to end sometime. Why not against a strong team who knows it has to have this one? Purdue by 5.

Also, the NBA is back after it's All-Star hiatus, and I'll give you an upset special: Milwaukee has lost their first three games against the Pistons this season, but will turn up the offense tonight and get a win. There will be no bailout for Detroit this evening (ha!).