Who are the #1 Seeds Right Now?

With a lull in the sports calendar it's kind of difficult to find things to write about, but with March Madness getting closer day by day, I'm starting to take a closer look at the college basketball landscape. There is also a new AP Top 25 and I browsed the list and thought who are the likely #1 seeds if the tournament started today. And quite frankly looking at the list the AP rankings right now show that the top 4 teams should all get a #1 seed come March but in a different order.

#1 Kansas: I think Kansas has to do a lot wrong to not get a #1 seed and right now they're my #1 overall seed. Kansas is a team that has a really good offense, good defense, and have beaten everyone they have played with the exception of Tennessee. The Big 12 as a conference is pretty strong so to be unbeaten thus far is an accomplishment that needs to be recognized. The Jayhawks are led by guards Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry and center Cole Aldrich who is averaging a double-double. This is a strong team that many will pick to win the tournament when the brackets are officially announced.

#2 Kentucky: Kentucky is going to be the sexy pick to win the tournament, because of John Calipari, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins all getting a ton of air time on ESPN. Like Kansas, Kentucky only has 1 loss on the road this year and this team is just full of talent. The SEC isn't a tough conference to play in but there are still a few good teams that have tested the Wildcats this season and should have them prepared for a deep run come March.

#3 Syracuse: The game's best conference has to get a #1 seed, and while it's Syracuse right now it could very easily be Villanova or West Virginia in this spot after the Big East tournament. Syracuse's zone defense is suffocating and Coach Jim Boeheim is playing a deep bench to keep his team fresh for second half runs. Syracuse traditionally pays well in the Big East tournament so they're my pick to win that tournament and get a #1 seed.

#4 Purdue: The Boilermakers are slowly becoming everyone's sleeper team for March and obviously the more of a sleeper you become the more attention you get and more pressure is sure to follow. As Mark Titus wrote in his blog, Club Trillion, Purdue is such a likable team,

"...they managed to completely change my perception of Purdue in the process, simply because of how likable they are. They are fun to watch play basketball and most of the guys on their team seem like good people." - Club Trillion

Not only are they fun to watch, they're a pretty darn good team. The stars of this team are quickly becoming JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, averaging a combined 32 points per game. Chris Kramer is a force defensively and Robbie Hummel is a big guy who has a great outside shot. I think they're a legitimate Final Four contender and maybe even a National Title contender because the Boilers pride themselves on defense (The Paint Crew keeps a running tally of defensive plays during home games, what more proof do you need?) and they have a great ability to shoot the basketball. Two things that can take a team far in March.

I'm excited for Selection Sunday, 20 days and counting. And while my Hawkeyes are pretty abysmal in basketball it makes it easy to take my heart out of filling out my bracket.

NCAA Tournament Changes

This story talks about the possibility of the NCAA opting out of its contract with CBS and taking it's NCAA Tournament to the highest bidder. What it also talks about is the possible expansion of the tournament to 96 teams. You read that right, 96, or just slightly more than a quarter of all Division 1 NCAA Basketball teams. From a pure business stand point it makes a lot of sense, and it would make even more sense if ESPN were to win the bid, when they spend that amount of money on an event they make sure to promote the hell out of it, and the roll out all the bells and whistles to make the event that much more enjoyable for fans. And a Brent Musburger and Coach Bobby Knight team for the Final Four would be incredibly enjoyable. That being said, from a fan standpoint and a basketball standpoint, 96 teams is insane.


I for one am not the biggest fan of college basketball until it hits late February and early March and expanding the tournament would make the regular season even more irrelevant and you'd lose viewers during the regular season.

96 teams would mean more mediocre big conference teams or more mid major conference teams who don't match up well with the superior big conference teams. This country loves rooting for the underdog but in reality, when was the last underdog to actually win the NCAA tournament? You're just causing more work for what will most likely end up being the traditional teams playing for another national championship.

More teams in the tournament also gives more coaches the opportunity to claim that they've taken their teams to the tournament. This will increase the coaching carousel that is in my opinion is destroying college athletics. It also leads to higher salaries for coaches, something a lot of people have a problem with.

The funny thing is these reasons are just purely from a fan's standpoint, the NCAA is all about the money nowadays and these reasons don't matter in the slightest to the NCAA higher ups because they don't affect the bottom line. I'm bracing for the change and I have one request, please keep Gus Johnson attached to the NCAA Tournament for calls like these:

Thoughts From the First Round

After today’s slate of games, my bracket is still intact in my pool, but it is battered. The two big upsets from the first round would have to be Dayton beating West Virginia and Cleveland State just dropping Wake Forest like 3rd period English.

Sunday, Cleveland State takes on an Arizona team that barely got into the tournament, so I think they have a shot at advancing to the Sweet 16. Cleveland St. forces a lot of turnovers (18 against Wake Forest Friday night), which is a good thing for a Cinderella to continue to advance. Dayton will take on Kansas on Sunday, which should be a good game. Dayton won thanks to shooting 46% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc for the game, and a career high 27 points from Chris Wright. If they are to win on Sunday they will probably need a similar shooting performance from the entire team and help from an inexperienced Kansas squad.

I don’t see any big upsets happening tomorrow but Sunday could provide a different story with Dayton, Cleveland St., Arizona, and Wisconsin in action. I like Wisconsin to beat Xavier and advance to the Sweet 16 as well as Cleveland St. to beat Arizona.

I love the transitions that CBS does during their telecast but I really wish someone would step in and provide a vocal transition so I don’t get confused in what game I’m being switched to. There were multiple times when CBS would switch from the Wisconsin-Florida State game to the Ohio State-Siena game without verbal warning and I was thrown for a moment or two. Hopefully this gets corrected as the tournament progresses and this was just a first round thing.

Enjoy the 2nd Round!

Tournament Picks

First off, i think it was a good choice to not let ISU play in the tourney, because we would have beat everyone by 50, and we just don't want that kind of lack of suspense. And now without further ado, the most likely scenario for the NCAA tourney-winners are listed

Midwest Bracket
Louisville, Siena, Utah, Wake Forest, Dayton, KU, USC, Michigan State

West Bracket
UCONN, T A&M, Purdue, Mississippi State, Utah State, Cornell, Maryland, Memphis

East Bracket
Pittsburgh, Tennessee, FSU, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Minnesota, Duke

South Bracket
North Carolina, LSU, Illinois, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syracuse, Clemson, Oklahoma

2nd round
Louisville over Siena, Wake Forest over Utah, KU over Dayton, USC over Mich State
UCONN over A&M, Mississippi State over Purdue, Cornell over Utah State, Maryland over Memphis
Pittsburgh over Tennessee, FSU over Xavier, UCLA over Villanova, Minnesota over Duke
LSU over UNC, Illinois over Gonzaga, Syracuse over ASU, Oklahoma over Clemson

Sweet 16
Louisville over Wake Forest, KU over USC, Mississippi State over UCONN, Maryland over Cornell, FSU over Pittsburgh, Minnesota over UCLA, LSU over Illinois, Oklahoma over Syracuse

Elite 8
Louisville over KU, Maryland over Mississippi State, Minnesota over FSU, LSU over Oklahoma

Final 4
Louisville over Maryland, LSU over Minnesota

Championship
Louisville loses to LSU 75-69

Play Index and NCAA Picks

I need to write about a new incredible toy I have recently bought. It is the Play Index from Baseball-Reference.com. With the Play Index, you can literally find any stat you have ever dreamed of. You can find consecutive starts with a Game Score of over 70, number of times Albert Pujols has hit a home run in the 4th inning in his career, or the number of times the Red Sox hit a home run to left field at home in 1983. I cannot think of enough words to describe how incredible this service is, so I’ll just give some examples of why it is amazing. (Streak records go back to 1956).

-The record for longest streak of games with at least one extra base hit is held by Chipper Jones, who got an extra base hit in 14 straight games in 2006. This streak included 8 doubles, 1 triple and 7 home runs, and Jones had a .544 average, 1.088 slugging percentage, and 1.688 OPS. This streak raised his average from .283 to .329 from late June to early July.

-The record for most games in a row with a game score of at least 75 is 8, held by Fernando Venezuela, who did it to begin his legendary 1981 season. In total, he was 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA, with 68 K’s in 72 IP and a 0.83 WHIP. Again, this was done in his first 8 career starts!!!

-Five teams have won a game while getting no hits. The most recent happened on June 28, 2008, when the Angels no-hit the Dodgers, but lost 1-0 due to a couple errors, a steal, and a sacrifice fly. On July 1, 1990, the White Sox actually scored 4 runs while getting no hits, beating the Yankees 4-0.

-Of Mark Grace’s 173 home runs, 61 were hit with no outs, 56 with one out, and 56 with two outs. 39 were hit in three-pitch at bats, 38 were hit to right-center field, 9 were hit at Qualcomm Stadium, 67 were hit behind in the count, 25 were hit in the 6th inning, and 4 were walk-off home runs. He hit one home run to center field at Wrigley while he was ahead in the count and hitting clean-up.

-In 1969, the Chicago Cubs were 66-6 (.904) when leading after 6 innings, but 70-7 (.897) when leading after 7 innings.

-The record for most consecutive games where a team hit a home run is held by the Texas Rangers, who hit a home run in 27 consecutive games from August to September, 2002. They went 17-10 in that span with 55 total home runs, on their way to a 72-90 season record.

As you can see, the list of possible things you can look up is literally endless, and once I really figure out what to look for, it will be incredible. This service is a must-have for any serious baseball stathead.


NCAA Tournament Picks
First Round
Louisville (over Alabama State), Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, Dayton, North Dakota State, Boston College, Michigan State, Connecticut, BYU, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, California, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas, Duke, North Carolina, Butler, Illinois, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syracuse, Michigan, Oklahoma

Second Round
Louisville, Wake Forest, Dayton, Michigan State, Connecticut, Purdue, Missouri, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Xavier, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Michigan

Sweet Sixteen
Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse

Elite Eight
Michigan State over Louisville, Purdue over Memphis, Duke over Pittsburgh, North Carolina over Syracuse

Final Four
Purdue over Michigan State, Duke over North Carolina

Championship Game
Purdue 68, Duke 63

I know it looks like I am being a homer here, but I think Purdue can pull this off. Having seen Purdue play in person 26 times this year, I know as well as anyone that if Purdue plays as well as it can, we can compete with any team in the nation. Purdue is finally completely healthy and hit its stride at the perfect time in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue will need some breaks to fall their way, but any team does to win the National Championship, and it may as well be Purdue this year. That said, I do realize that realistically, Purdue will probably be knocked out around the Sweet Sixteen. But statistically speaking, this bracket is just as likely to happen as any other bracket out there, so I figure I may as well pick my team to go all the way.

Interesting baseball fact of the day, if those other ones were not enough: In 1974, the last year Purdue won a postseason championship (The NIT), the Los Angeles Dodgers had the highest single-game total bases total. They had 48 TB in an 18-8 drubbing of the Cubs, with 4 doubles, a triple, and 6 home runs. The second highest single-game total was 36. The record since 1956 is 58, by the Montreal Expos against the Atlanta Braves on July 30, 1978.

Who should get the last #1 Seed?

With no school wanting to step up and grab that last number one seed for the NCAA Tournament (I’m looking at you Michigan State, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Connecticut), I’ll take a look at the other schools that should still be considered for the last one seed. First off, the locks in my opinion for the first three #1 seeds are, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Louisville. So for that last spot, I think Duke, Connecticut, and Memphis are the schools the selection committee will look at. Let’s take a look at Duke first.

Duke is currently ranked second in the RPI but with a win tomorrow in the ACC title game they should be first. I don’t think any school ranked first in the RPI was not awarded a one seed in the NCAA tournament. They also have a Strength of Schedule (SOS) ranked second, so they have played a difficult schedule. They have however a terrible loss to Clemson which could hurt them. Right now I don’t see them as a one seed but if Duke wins tomorrow, I expect them to get the last one seed.

Memphis is the second team that is being considered. They have won 25 games in a row, and more than 50 straight conference games. Memphis’ RPI is 8 which is good but what hurts them is their SOS of 54, which comes from playing in Conference USA. What also hurts them is the loss to Georgetown. People will make the argument that a team shouldn’t get penalized for the conference they play in, but you shouldn't be able to pad your wins by playing lesser teams. Memphis is a good team but I just don’t see them getting a one seed this season.

Connecticut has an RPI of six and an SOS of 25.What they have going for them is that they play in the Big East, the top conference in the country, and they had a very successful season in that conference. What they have going against them is that they got bounced in the Big East tournament (That Six OT thriller you might remember), and took a loss to a disappointing Georgetown team, and they also lost twice to Pittsburgh this season. I think losing in the Big East Tournament will prevent them for getting the last one seed.