I was just reading yet another ‘expert’ bashing Memphis. You’ve heard it all – they play in a weak conference and they lost to Tennessee so they are a weak number one seed. There is even lots of talk that they will lose that number one seed unless they win the conference title, or at least make the final. That’s all absolutely ridiculous. I’ll admit I am a big fan of this team, and that I have been for years (ever since John Calipari, one of the few top coaches in the country, showed up), but I don’t think that they are getting nearly enough respect. Here are ten reasons that you should agree with me:

Continue reading “In Defense of Memphis”

The San Diego Toreros ripped the heart out of all the teams poised on the bubble on Monday night when they won the West Coast Conference tournament. There were two teams that were pretty much guaranteed to go to the tournament from the WCC, but San Diego wasn’t one of them. Now the WCC is a very unlikely a three bid conference, with San Diego joining Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga. The spot that San Diego will take up in the field is one that would have belonged to a deserving at-large team.

Continue reading “Know Your Tournament Field – San Diego”

Drake. Wow. What else is there to say, really. There was every expectation going into the MVC tournament final that the Bulldogs were in for a tough fight against the Redbirds of Illinois State. For a few minutes at the start of the game, when Illinois State got out to a strong start, it even looked like they could be in trouble. But then the Bulldogs put their feet on the throats of the Redbirds and it got ugly. They couldn’t miss a shot for much of the game. They would steal the ball whenever they felt like having it. Their defense was smothering and their offense was relentless, and they cruised to a 30 point win despite only being favored by 2.5. It was as complete and impressive as a game can be.

Continue reading “That Sound Your Hear is Drake’s Line Being Inflated”

I’m not going to attempt to profile every tournament team, but Winthrop is a team that deserves some attention. They are a program that loves to dance. They won the Big South title on Saturday to earn their fourth straight tournament bid, and their eighth in the last ten years. This is their first bid under new coach Randy Peele, who was an assistant under Gregg Marshall before Marshall left for Wichita State.

Continue reading “Know Your Tournament Field – Winthrop”

The regular season comes to and end this weekend, but not before some truly spectacular games are played. There are a staggering number of games worth paying close attention to, watching with rapt interest, and of course betting on. Many of the games will tell us how teams are feeling heading into back-to-back tournaments. Here, in order, are my picks for the 10 best games of the weekend:

Continue reading “College Basketball Games to Watch This Weekend”

Arch Madness got underway Thursday afternoon. And no, that’s not a misprint. It’s the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and it is called Arch Madness because it is played under the arch in St. Louis and the MVC is incredibly clever like that. The conference matters because it gets all sorts of buzz, and because teams from the conference have had a habit recently of making a lot of noise in March. Since that’s the case, it is obviously worthwhile spending a few minutes getting to know the conference heading into their tournament.

Continue reading “Arch Madness is here! Arch Madness is here!”

I’m tired of reading and hearing of how great the Missouri Valley and A-10 conferences are while no one is saying the same kind of things about the Mountain West. Don’t get me wrong – I love Xavier, and Drake is a great story. It’s just that the MWC is as impressive as those conferences in a lot of ways, yet not nearly as much ink is spilled over it. The conference struggles for attention because it is located away from the east coast media markets (or in the case of teams like Wyoming, away from any media market at all). The east coast snobs are missing out. Just look at the facts: Continue reading “In Praise of the Mountain West Conference”

The tournament is still more than two weeks away, but it is an incredibly overwhelming event as a sports bettor. There are so many games, and so many ‘experts’ with opinions and insights to offer, that at a bettor can make bade decisions if they haven’t done their work to get ready well in advance. If you wait until the Wednesday before the first games are played you won’t have the time to do the handicapping required, and you won’t do as well as you should. Like the teams that are heading to the tournament, you need to go into tournament training if you want to be at your best for the big event. Here are eight things you can do to get ready to cash in on March Madness:

Continue reading “Eight Ways to Get Ready for March Madness”

Sure they play two centers—Tim Duncan and Kurt Thomas. At least they did the other night. The starting rotation of two centers, two small forwards and a point guard says something about the Spurs. They’ve geared up for the playoffs and are ready to play tough and rough inside-the-paint basketball. That fact could be a major plus for the club as they head towards the second season.

Continue reading “Spurred on San Antonio Continues to Win”

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Cornell is the first team to guarantee themselves a trip to the tournament, so they deserve a profile. The Big Red make it into the field as Ivy League champions because that elite conference is apparently too good for a conference tournament. This is the first time since 1988 that Cornell has won the league, and only the seventh time since 1955 that Penn or Princeton hasn’t won at least a piece of the championship.

Continue reading “Know Your Tournament Field – Cornell”

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