The Swamp

I'm having a hard time finding any upsets in the early rounds this year. Belmont perhaps? It sure as hell won't be Akron, though it will be fun watching Keith Dambrot go against his former assistant.

And if I were a betting man, I'd put a large chunk of coin on Creighton beating the hell out of Cincinnati.

I like a few upset possibilities. I watched just about every conference championship game this year and a bunch of semifinals of some of the smaller conferences and came away impressed with a few teams. I'll limit it to my five most likely (in no order) (also, going only #11 or higher here. #10 or #9 seeds winning is barely an upset)

#14 Northwestern State vs. #3 Florida -- NW St. plays FAST and Florida has been spotty lately. If NW St. gets hot they could land a knockout punch quickly.

#13 South Dakota St. vs. #4 Michigan -- This is a rough draw for SDakSt. because Michigan takes care of the ball really well -- a sloppier #4 seed would be in a world of trouble because the Jackrabbits are GOOD. I'm definitely taking SDST and the 10-ish points here though. It'll be a close game.

#11 Bucknell vs. #6 Butler -- Should be a really interesting game. I wonder if playing in a much tougher conference is going to help or hinder Butler come tournament time. Seems counter-intuitive, but they may be a lot more beat up after the A-10 grind than their players are used to.

#11 St. Mary's OR Middle Tennessee St vs. #6 Memphis -- I'm not sold on Memphis at all. And if MTSU should upset St. Mary's that sets up a really interesting intra-state matchup.

#11 Belmont vs. #6 Arizona -- Arizona is so up and down -- they could win this game by 20 or lose it by 12-14. Belmont also played in a tougher conference this year, but I think that will help them come tournament time since the OVC isn't exactly the A-10. I just like that they played in more closer games this year.

Belmont is my pick for double digit upset, personally.

For no reason other than it seems to fit. Pac 12 not impressive, Belmont team that got some late press for being good, etc.

Heard on the radio this morning that Notre Dame could be at risk in their first round matchup.

I am hoping for a Kentucky - Maryland N.I.T. finally. Would be fitting that both teams started against each other in New York and could finish the season against each other in New York.

La Salle is a 1.5 point dog versus Boise State. Love them for the upset! Yay La Salle!

One of the jokers on CBS (Seth Davis, maybe?) is really pumping Montana's tires and picking them to upset Syracuse.

I got Kansas losing because a one seed has to lose eventually and Syracuse losing because I'm annoyed they left the Big East.

Jon Rothstein, who is a real writer, has La Salle knocking off Kansas State.

Was his pick really eloquent or something?

For those of us that do not get TruTV, whatever the h-e-double-hockeystick that is, one live stream source is TSN.CA. And I have no idea if that link will work outside of Canuckia.

Trivia: First time since 1977 that there are no teams from Texas in the NCAA tournament.

The third Tuesday in March belongs to truTV.

I guess they are not billing this as Pomeroy's #317 offense (A&T) versus the #303 defense (Liberty)? Looks so far like bad offense beats bad defense.

God must have been busy with something else on that last possession.

well, that was exiting. lots of points. good opener to the tourney.

Yeah, that was a good game. Too bad A&T will now score 35 against Louisville.

anybody have a password to march madness on demand through cbs this year? i'm going to have to watch the tourney via laptop and i have no money to pay for it.


also, if anybody is curious, i am take the candy, get in the van in the frog pool

I downloaded the app and was able to watch for free.

Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

mister d wrote:Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

I don't know why you're nervous. If LaSalle wins tonight, they're winning it all. So says my coin-flip bracket!

mister d wrote:Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

I can't decide how nervous I will be tomorrow. I should be nervous... this Missouri team could make the Final Four and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise given expectations and talent level.

But it would be equally not much of a surprise if they lost by 30 Thursday night too.

Brontoburglar wrote:

mister d wrote:Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

I can't decide how nervous I will be tomorrow. I should be nervous... this Missouri team could make the Final Four and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise given expectations and talent level.

But it would be equally not much of a surprise if they lost by 30 Thursday night too.

Any reason to think Pressey would have less than the 8 turnovers he had against UofL earlier in the year? I hope he doesn't.

AB_skin_test wrote:

Brontoburglar wrote:

mister d wrote:Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

I can't decide how nervous I will be tomorrow. I should be nervous... this Missouri team could make the Final Four and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise given expectations and talent level.

But it would be equally not much of a surprise if they lost by 30 Thursday night too.

Any reason to think Pressey would have less than the 8 turnovers he had against UofL earlier in the year? I hope he doesn't.

Psh. Louisville? No point in even thinking about that game with this team right now.

Brontoburglar wrote:

mister d wrote:Already pre-barfing. If I were anyone but me, I'd mock my level of investment in a play-in game.

I can't decide how nervous I will be tomorrow. I should be nervous... this Missouri team could make the Final Four and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise given expectations and talent level.

But it would be equally not much of a surprise if they lost by 30 Thursday night too.

Funny thing. I have not watched one Colorado State game all year, but I've been learning about them on the fly over the past few days, and I know I will be very nervous as I watch them play Mizzou tomorrow. After much analysis, deliberation and contemplation, I picked the Rams to win the game, in my brackets.

I also have LaSalle losing big on Wednesday.

Laying out of work tomorrow afternoon to watch basketball and drink beer.
Bet on each of the four #1's to cover the spread. (Statistically, that "usually" happens).
Bet on St. Louis, Wichita State and Memphis. We will see how it goes.

Syracuse basketball team under NCAA investigation and has been for a period of "years". Football is also involved.

Boeheim will be in a good mood, so this promises to be fun.

Oddly, there are four Canadians on the New Mexico State team, including 7'5" Sim Bhullar who is surely the tallest Punjabi in the NCAA as well. Saint Louis has one as well so there is an obscure chance that at some point half of the players on court in that game would be Canucks. Weird.

Thanks a ton for the link for the stream, Scottie.

I too was shocked at the number of Canadians that are in this game (and for that matter, the tournament). Keep an eye on Andrew Wiggins, he'll be entering the NCAA next year and is projected to be the No 1 or 2 overall pick in 2014 (even though it's obscenely early)

You're very welcome. And you saw the list on TSN.ca, eh?

Well, NMSU does have low academic standards.

Scottie wrote:Oddly, there are four Canadians on the New Mexico State team

While you're at it . . . look up "Lobogate".

Scottie wrote:You're very welcome. And you saw the list on TSN.ca, eh?

No, I didn't. That's useful, will help me decide who to root for. "Grandy Glaze" has to be one of the best names I've heard in awhile.

Rush2112 wrote:Well, NMSU does have low academic standards.

Scottie wrote:Oddly, there are four Canadians on the New Mexico State team

I didn't see any Newfs on that list.

LIU has got to have the worst font in this whole shootin' match.

Hearing Jim Nantz do that Hardcore Pawn promo, I could almost hear the Masters piano in the background.

Might have been another kind of tinkle.

Yeah LaSalle. For your Friday viewing pleasure, 60% of the Big 5. Unfortunately, odds are stacked against each one of them. I say one team gets to the weekend - probably Temple. But shit, this would be awesome if LaSalle can take it to K State.

FWIW, I grew up a LaSalle fan. Speedy Morris is from my neighborhood, still lives here. I missed the game. My daughter wasn't feeling good so when I went to put her to bed tonight, I ended up staying longer than anticipated. Sang songs with her after reading her books. Just wanted to put her at ease because we think she has another ear infection - something like #5,198 this year. So, of course I fell asleep. I wake up after midnight. 15 text messages from two of my good friends that were watching the game - one of which used to go to Speedy's basketball camps as a kid. And a vmail from a good friend and LaSalle alum that was going to be watching the game about 20 minutes from my house (Conshohocken, I know there is at least one swamper that lives (lived) there). I totally would have gone to the bar and drank a few lawnmower beers while watching LaSalle play in and win a tourney game for the first time since I was in HS. This is also the guy that I used to go to the A-10 tourney with in the late 90s/early 00s to watch LaSalle's midday games vs the likes of Rhode Island and the Bonnies (shout out to the Spectrum!). So, I missed out.

I had strong feelings about a W tonight. And to be honest, even though it's the tourney - I still view Thursday as the official beginning. IMHO, the First Four wreaks of second wild card in MLB. I like it and typically watch the games but it doesn't have that je ne sesi quoi that playing among 16 other games in one day does. I DEFINITELY will not be missing Friday's game. I think this season and winning tonight will be a huge springboard for recruiting this year and next. Hopefully they can build on it. Any more wins and it's just icing on the cake. The nice thing is it appears that LaSalle is back! Now I have to go find out if there is a replay I can watch tonight.

If they lose on Friday and miss the tourney for the next 21 years, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will remind my daughter of tonight for every year from now until their next tourney appearance. That won't be necessary thought because the Explorers are back.

Congrats to the alum - Smyrna, daruzz(?) and whoever else I may be forgetting.

So, there is a listing on CBS Sports Network for NCAA Basketball Tournament at 2am tonight - 10 minutes from now. The description, which would typically show you who is playing just says "A First Four game". So now, I am wishing it's the late game. It has to be right? I mean, the James Madison game had to be replayed already.

Rest assured, if the LaSalle game isn't on in a few minutes, I will be pissed. The best case scenario is that I get to watch the LaSalle game at 2am.

Hello friends, it's Jim Nantz along with Clark Kellogg.

BAM!! Battle of the 13 seeds. Let's do this. Time for a tall glass of water!!!

Ah yes, stuff that happened when even Howard was young.

Scottie wrote:While you're at it . . . look up "Lobogate".

This is kinda fascinating. Some bizarre stuff in here, like the fact that San Francisco supports Michigan more than any other NCAA Tournament team (yes, including Cal)