The Confidential

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Archive for the category “Opinion”

23 Apr 2013
13 Comments

4-22-13: An ACC Holiday

The ACC’s obituary was written many months ago.  The Big 10–fresh off a harvest of Maryland and Rutgers–would be descending on the ACC and taking enough teams to get to 16, 18, 20, 0r 22.  The issues were merely who and how many.  Meanwhile, the only other issue was whether the ACC’s carcass would be feasted on by the Big XII and SEC at the same time, or whether these conferences would be waiting for the Big 10 to “choose” first.  Well… and it is great to say… you couldn’t have been more wrong.  Instead, as reported here and elsewhere yesterday, the ACC schools have decided to sign a grant of rights.  Much like a grant of rights solidified the Big XII, this grant of rights also solidifies the ACC.

So what are the winners and losers with this announcement:

THE WINNERS:

The ACC schools.  The ACC is a conference of elite academic institutions.  The Big 10 and Pac 12 are also conferences with elite academic institutions.  Had the ACC broken up, it would be meant the dissolving of a fine partnership over athletics.  There is something neat about having Boston College, Miami, Syracuse, and Duke all joined together in a conference.  Add in Notre Dame and Wake Forest, and that is a nice collection of private institutions not seen in any other major conference.  Meanwhile, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Pitt are excellent academic institutions on the public side.  And Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and North Carolina State continue to improve.  The latter are, well, pretty good at football too.  But the real win is that these schools adhered to the idea that the potential value of this conference should not be squandered in the hope of more money immediately.  For once, someone left money on the table.

Syracuse, Wake Forest, Pitt, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Duke, Miami, and Louisville.  In some scenarios, these schools would get left out of realignment.  They avoided this fate, at least for now.

ESPN.  ESPN was somewhere near the brink of potentially losing  control of the eastern seaboard.  Maryland and Rutgers were shuffling off to the midwest to be featured in the Big 10’s network jointly owned by Fox.  If the Big 10 captured a few more, or several more, ACC schools… only the SEC could take on ACC schools–maybe 2?–to keep them under ESPN control.  Maybe the SEC could have landed North Carolina and Duke.  Or maybe they would have been “stuck” with North Carolina State and Virginia Tech.  Good football schools, but schools overshadowed academically by their state flagship schools.  And any ACC schools heading to the Big XII would move away from full ESPN control to partial ESPN control.  Finally, if the Big 10 had gotten too big, ESPN would have had to pay dearly in 2015 to keep their rights.  Frankly, keeping the ACC might have been a cheaper option.

Frank the Tank.  The author of the best expansion blog on the Internet had been saying forever that the ACC was strong.  The Maryland departure, and the echoes from some less-responsible bloggers regarding future Big 10 targets, made even Frank the Tank question just how strong.  But at the end of the day, his belief in the ACC prevailed.

ACC Leadership.  Questioned by many, the ACC home office seems a lot more competent today than they did 8 months ago.

THE LOSERS:

The West Virginia Bloggers.  Look, West Virginia got kind of a raw deal by being passed over for, ultimately, Louisville.  Of course, when is the last time West Virginia won a national championship in hoops?  In any event, few schools in the ACC had serious animosity toward West Virginia.  Pitt, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech (and Maryland presumably) would have liked to see them in the ACC.  Not the other way around.  Fortunately, when that did not pan out, the Mountaineers ended up with a very soft landing in the Big XII.  The response?  Echoing the lack of class from the school’s athletic director (saying Navy was an upgrade over Syracuse in football), a few select bloggers made a name for themselves guaranteeing the destruction of the ACC.  Not just that it was a possibility.  No, these fools claimed that it was fact.  Imminent fact.  Well, folks, you are running out of time for that fact to come to fruition.  So, while your imaginary sources may still whisper in your ear from time-to-time, the fifteen minutes of fame is over.

Some of the Frank the Tank Commentariat.  Like something out of Willy Wonka, some of the commentariat over there acted like spoiled children.  Person A: “NO, I want Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida State.”  Person B: “NO, the Big 10 should take Georgia Tech, Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, and Notre Dame.”   Person C: “You folks think small… the Big 10 should take everyone except Syracuse, BC, Wake Forest, and Louisville.  They should then take Texas, Florida, USC, and China.  Look at that market share!!!  We’ll be rich!”  And so on.  The Confidential understands that expansion is fun to talk about.  But the degree to which “money” became the only statistic that matters was beyond absurd.  Even if the Big 10 COULD make lots more money by adding in schools in great markets, there is more to this game than mere money.  When the blog first started taking off, people ignored money.  Now, money means too much.  Money is nice… but there is something to be said for athletic prowess.  At the end of the day, the SEC’s adds of Texas A&M and Missouri likely trump Rutgers and Maryland, on and off the field.  That book has many more chapters to write.  But let a few of them get written before declaring it a best seller.

UConn and Cincinnati.  A poached ACC was an inviting home.  A solid ACC?  Not a great sign.  Things can change though.

Expansion Fans.  While the aforementioned speculation got carried away by some, the speculation sure was fun.  This all started with the Big 10 looking for team #12.  It ended with a 10-team Big 12 and a 14-team Big 10.  Along the way, the Big East had teams in Idaho and California briefly.  And now there is something that we cannot call the AAC.  While the aftershocks of realignment will continue to ripple through the mid-major and minor conferences, the ACC’s Grant of Rights may just slow down expansion within the 5 power conferences.  If so, things may not be as tense for ACC fans, but they will also be slightly less interesting.

What do you think?  Any incorrect winners & losers?  Anyone omitted?  You tell us…

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference News, Conference Realignment, Opinion and tagged , , ,
12 Apr 2013
11 Comments

N-C-A-Absurdity

The college basketball season just ended.  You knew that from your bracket.  Heck, even Ned Flanders would think a bracket is too much fun to be immoral.  But the season just ended two days ago.  And guess when the deadline is for college underclassmen to decide whether to turn pro?  Next freakin’ Tuesday, according to Syracuse.com, who laid this all out for Syracuse fans wondering what CJ Fair is going to do.

This is the timeline:

  • April 8, 2013: Championship Game
  • April 10, 2013: The deadline to apply for an assessment from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee
  • April 15, 2013: The deadline to receive assessment from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee
  • April 16, 2013: NCAA Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline

That’s right.  The underclassmen in the Final Four have exactly one week to decide that they are not going to make themselves eligible for the draft.  The most important decision of their respective lives, and the NCAA gives kids as little as one week to decide.  Even worse, a kid like CJ Fair can receive his “assessment” on April 15 and get a whole 24 hours to decide.  24 hours.

An NCAA apologist might say that a kid could still decide to go pro between April 16 and April 28.  However, anyone choosing to go pro during that period would give up their NCAA eligibility.  There is no chance to return to college at that point.

It gets better.  The purpose of moving up the dates to crunch this timeline was…. get ready for this… to benefit the student-athlete.  That’s right, the NCAA is actually telling the world, with a straight face presumably, that they tightened the deadlines to help kids.  The Syracuse.com article stated as follows: “The NCAA moved this date up in 2012 ‘to help keep student-athletes focused on academics in the spring term and to give coaches a better idea of their roster for the coming year before the recruiting period is closed,’ according to the organization.”  Right.  The latter part of the sentence is true, but not the former.  This has nothing to do with helping kids.

If the NCAA cared about the players, it would allow them to go all the way through the draft, see where they are drafted, and then decide whether to come back to college.  Indeed, as long as the player did not sign a contract, why should they be deemed to have lost their amateur status?  Larry Bird was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1978.  He played for Indiana State in the 1978-1979 season.  He then went pro for the 1979-1980 season, and the rest is history.  Despite the Boston Celtics holding his rights, amateur athletics did not come to a halt.  Things worked out quite well, actually.

Surely, you say, it would be improper for any current college athlete to be drafted and stay in college, right?  Well, not if you are a baseball player.  The MLB draft is set up to allow the drafting of three categories of players:

  • High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college;
  • College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; and
  • Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed

A high school player that is drafted, but chooses not to sign gets to go play college baseball.  The NCAA will let him play.  For a while, as the college baseball player will not be eligible again for the MLB draft until he turns 21 or completes his junior season.  So, somehow, the NCAA allows drafted, but unsigned, baseball players to compete.  It works the same way in hockey.

So, why is there one set of rules for baseball and hockey, but a much more onerous set of rules for basketball and football?  If you are an optimist, you think it is because the NCAA makes so much money with football and basketball, that they care a lot more about keeping the amateur ranks clean.  But, if you think about it, that cannot be.  If it was only about ratings and attendance, keeping the best basketball and football players around would be even more profitable.  If you are a pessimist, you might suspect racism.  Right?  The more “white” the sport, the more likely the NCAA is to allow you to be drafted and return to college nonetheless.  At the very least, with a largely African-American sport such as basketball, the NCAA is more than willing to force kids to make a decision, one that will either be smart or terrible, in one week.  Every time a basketball player leaves early, is not drafted, and is never heard from again… it is a warning sign to others that might consider leaving early.  The NCAA will gladly ruin someone’s life to protect their cash cow.  Especially when they are ruining a young African-American male’s life.  Yes, this is a pessimistic view, all right.

Hey… if you can find a rationale for having different rules for the different sports, feel free to share it.  The Confidential would love to hear why it must be different.

Whatever the reason, it is just one more example of just how absurd the NCAA is.  But you knew that already…

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , ,
11 Apr 2013
10 Comments

When Will We Get Refbots?

What a great weekend of basketball!  Three great games that were in doubt throughout.  All is great, right?  Heck no!

First, Wichita State remains peeved that the referees called that jump ball with less than 10 seconds to go.  All across the web people were perplexed, including this seemingly-neutral publication, the Business Insider Journal.  Well, what does a business publication know about sports?  True, only the those other than the most diehard of Louisville fans had to think… “hmmm, that was a bit quick.” Second, Syracuse fans remain utterly-perturbed with the series of calls that led to starting guards Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche fouling out, with the most-severe ire addressed to the latter.   Of course, the talking heads commenting after the game noted that the call was blown.   Third, regardless of who you were rooting for, the block called against Trey Burke was simply absurd.  The best anyone can do is argue that it did not “cost” Michigan the game.  Or “tarnish” what was a great basketball game.

Now, the Confidential is going to say this slowly.  And in bold.  Wichita State, Syracuse, and Michigan have nothing to complain about.  Play as if you are going to have a few bad calls go against you.  Assume it.  That first half turnover cost you as much as that late game blown call.  Those missed free throws.  That ill advised shot.  You lost.  

But let’s not pretend that the officiating is not a problem.  We have inconsistencies within games now.  It used to be that “they are calling a tight game” meant something.  Now you get games where they call nothing for 30 minutes and get foul happy down the stretch.  And, of course, vice-versa.  Nobody can dispute that charges are called too often now.  We still see fouls called on the expectation that there would be contact, rather than the reality.  And so on.

And it’s not just basketball.  Did you see this call in baseball the other night?  Wow.

This is not to say that the referees aren’t doing the best job that they can.  They work hard, perhaps too hard.  Some are out-of-shape, but most are fit enough to keep up with the athletes.  We have had few scandals to question integrity.  The best officials seem to be the ones that everybody hates.  That means something–usually the toughness to make a call that the 5 to 110 thousand people in the building might not like.

But is this the best that sports can do?  Of course not.  We can do better than people.  They are called robots.  Let’s call them refbots.

Sure, refbots have not been invented yet.   To our knowledge.  But we have computers that can win at Jeopardy.  We have had line calls made automatically in tennis for years.  Isn’t this the solution?  Take it out of the hands of flawed humans, and put it into a programmable robot.  The program can be changed to reflect rule changes.  You can have many robots calling a basketball game–all working various angles together to ensure that the right call is made.  Instead of wondering whether one of the three guys will get there, technology will make sure someone is in position.  In fact, isn’t it more surprising we do not have this technology yet???  Even so, the technology has to be inevitable.

What do you think?  Assuming we could design robots to call games with far more accuracy and consistency, would you want that?  Or do you prefer the human error component?

Posted by acaffrey in Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
06 Apr 2013
20 Comments

In Defense of Rutgers’ Athletic Director Tim Pernetti

Look, the Confidential is no friend of Rutgers.  Do not believe us?  Check out this post.   Yeah, pretty harsh.  That being said, the Confidential MUST opine that society is on a slippery slope where the only thing that satisfies anyone is when a person committing an offense loses his or her job.  So, regardless of whether Tim Pernetti advocated for the termination or suspension of Mike Rice, the news that Tim Pernetti was fired or resigned under pressure of same is simply absurd.

Let’s not forget that Tim Pernetti was not the one being abusive to players in practice.  He was not the one that crossed the line.  Sure, he hired that guy.  But Tim Pernetti is not someone with an anger control problem, nor does he pose any danger to student-athletes.  What Tim Pernetti was fired for was doing a poor job at managing an already ugly situation.

Now, Rutgers sent Rice to anger management classes.  Why not send Tim Pernetti to basic management classes?  Rutgers is a proud university; certainly somebody at that institution teaches a management class that Tim Pernetti could take for a grade.  Maybe even an ethics class?  The Confidential finds it hard to believe that Tim Pernetti–the athletic director–was beyond salvaging.  Instead of faculty recommending that he audit a class taught at Rutgers, the faculty did the easy thing–advocated for his termination.  Mission accomplished.

The sad part is that Tim Pernetti oversaw the transition of Rutgers from a middling athletic program in the Big East, to being Big 10 bound.  This is the equivalent of winning the lottery.  Only Tim Pernetti will not be around to spend it.  Some other guy or gal will fill his role and get to go on a spending spree.  That is really too bad.

What is worse is that this just keeps happening again and again.  Our overly-litigious, overly-critical, overly media-frenzy driven society just cannot handle anyone making a mistake.  Instead, mistakes are now unforgivable.  Which is fine for the rapists, murderers, and abusers.  But when it comes down to poor judgment in response to a situation, the Confidential thinks that it is time for everyone to take a step back before advocating for termination and only termination.

Rutgers was not Penn State.  The “kids” abused by Rice were adults.  They had the ability to speak out.  They had the ability to group together to demand his ouster.  Some had the ability to say enough is enough.   So nobody should even go down that road.

If there is a more compelling analogy, it is Bobby Knight.  Mike Rice was no Knight when it comes to wins, obviously.  Heck, Mike Rice (111-61) has only a few dozen more wins than Pat Knight (73-72).  But nobody fired Bobby Knight for a long, long time.  The fact that Tim Pernetti did not fire Mike Rice is not a mortal sin or a crime.  It is a mistake.  We need to stop firing people over mistakes.

The interesting thing about all of this is that Penn State, Indiana, and Rutgers are all about to be part of the same conference.  For a conference that purports to be so much more cultured than the SEC, it sure does have its disproportionate number of problems with coaches and abusive behavior.  But, if anything, Rutgers overreacted with respect to Tim Pernetti.

Posted by acaffrey in Opinion and tagged , , , , , , ,
02 Apr 2013
2 Comments

The Other Final Four Story

Update II: Disregard the below.  The CBI is a 3-game format.  Good grief. 

Update: Congratulations to the Broncos of Santa Clara for winning the CBI.

THE FINAL FOUR is in Atlanta this weekend.  But it is not the only final four in March.  There are three other tournaments, including the venerable National Invitational Tournament (the “NIT”), still ongoing.  The other two tournaments are the CIT and the CBI.  There are more champions to be crowned.

For the NIT, Big 10 basketball is coming to your television set tomorrow.  Although it is unclear who televises the NIT, the NIT semifinals include a barn-burner between Iowa-Maryland.  It is a barn-burner in the sense that, if Iowa loses, they will set their barns on fire.  Maryland, cash poor after being incompetently run for a long long time in the ACC for all these years, does not even have barns.  Yet.  So this is far from a true, double-barn barn-burner.  In any event, this matchup promises to be a preview of all the great Maryland-Iowa rivalry games to be seen in the future.  Jim Delaney must be so very proud.

If one game has a rather plain Big 10 aftertaste, the other game has some Big XII intrigue.  Current Big XII power Baylor takes on a school that most expansion experts like to shift right into a non-existent Big XII vacancy, Brigham Young University.  So we are looking at an NIT final–on whatever day the NIT final is–between teams between the Big 10 (kinda) and the Big XII (OK, a stretch).  One of these teams will take home the crown of being #69.  Commence giggling.

The CIT and CBI are both are past the final four stage.  The CIT is down to its final game, featuring a future member of the “Big East Leftovers,” East Carolina, and Weber State.  We are not sure what the CIT was thinking, they are holding this game on the same day as the NIT semifinals.  A lot of tough remote control decisions across America.

Did you know?  There is no state named Weber.  Weber State is in Utah. 

Meanwhile, the CBI, which may stand for the Cinderella Basketball Invitation, will hold a championship game between George Mason and Santa Clara.  Santa Clara made a name for itself by beating #2 seed, Arizona, in the 1993 Big Dance.  George Mason made a name for itself a few years ago, with a magical run to the Final Four.

Did you know?  The CBI Tournament Championship Game was actually last night.  Do you know who won?  Seriously, let us know.  It’s hard to find the scores on ESPN.com. 

While the festivities in Atlanta promise to be memorable this weekend, just remember that there are other tournaments wrapping up.  We’ll even let you root for Maryland.  It would be cute if they won something, even if they do end up pawning the trophy to buy socks for their lacrosse team.

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, March Madness, Non-Serious, Opinion, Sarcasm, Satire and tagged , , , ,
01 Apr 2013
4 Comments

Things the Confidential Would Like to See In College Hoops…

Everyone is a critic.  Everyone has an opinion.  But not everyone has this forum for sharing it.  So here are the things the Confidential would like to see in College Hoops.  In no particular order:

  • How about an elimination of the timeout/timeout stuff during basketball games?  If a team calls a timeout with 16:20 left in the half, it must be a timeout that lasts for a commercial break.  Does anyone really need 30 seconds of play in between commercial breaks?  It is almost as bad as the NFL with its… commercial, kickoff, commercial crap.
  • Call us crazy, but we WANT to see Andy Enfield of Florida Gulf Coast go to USC.  First, it would be nice for someone to kick the crap out of Steve Alford, who left Iowa and has now left New Mexico.  We get that the 10-year contract means very little, but at least give it a year.  Not a week.  So the Confidential would love to see Dunk City shift over to L.A.  Second, Enfield plays an exciting brand of basketball.  That is needed on the West Coast.  Good fit.  Third, his wife has had motherhood take away from her modeling career.  Being back in the LA area would be nice for her.  Granted, if they do not want it, so be it.  But, if they do, it is fine with the Confidential.
  • How about some props for Jim Boeheim–perhaps even a few mea culpas by the talking heads?  A fourth final four, in four decades.  This team is not one of his most talented, but defense counts and they are very talented defenders.  An excellent tournament run.
  • Some prayers for Kevin Ware.  Plenty of people get injured each day, but not all of them have to do it in the floor in front of thousands and on TV in front of millions.
  • Charles Barkley retiring from the CBS host gig for March Madness.   His opinions are not that insightful.  Frankly, they are not even accurate.  While Barkley deserves credit for being opinionated and having the guts to share that opinion, even better would be if his opinions included sound basketball analysis.  He may know the NBA game, but there have to be 1,000 guys who know the college game more.
  • Give credit to Rick Pitino.  He has wasted a ton of time in the NBA, but still has 7 Final Fours.

What do YOU want out of college hoops?  Let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
30 Mar 2013
2 Comments

March Madness? More Like March Sadness

Well, we are down to 8 teams left for the NCAA Championship.  There are 347 teams that compete in Division 1 basketball.  Aside from the other post-season tournaments, there are 8 teams left.  What an amazing accomplishment for those teams.  March Madness can be the greatest of times.  But it really is also the worst of times.   A March Sadness, if you will.

Each year, there are 16 teams given 1 through 4 seeds.  If a #1 seed wins it all, that means that 15 of those 16 seeded teams will end the season with a loss.  In fact, 67 of the 68 teams in the Big Dance end the season with a loss.  All but one.

Of course, that happens in the NFL too.  And the other major sports have playoff series that end.  The difference with the pros is that those teams can, in theory, remain fully intact for the following year.  There is always “next year.”

There is no next year for college Seniors.  And if you are a very good college underclassman, there is no next year either.  It just makes it so…. “final.”  As a fan, it’s tough enough to know that this is the last time you will see that superstar.  But it is even harder to say goodbye to that 4-year Senior who went from a clueless Freshman to a capable Senior.  The guy who went from a boy to a man right in front of your eyes.  And then he loses, sheds tears on TV, and is gone.  Forever.  At least in that jersey.

And it is never easy.  Think being Georgetown is tough?  Losing to a 15-seed is embarrassing and difficult-to-stomach.  But what about Indiana–a #1 seed losing to ANYONE is tough.  They were, in theory, “supposed to beat” Syracuse.  And now it’s over.  It is not limited to being a high seed.  Pittsburgh and North Carolina State had low expectations and exited without much fanfare.  It’s still ending the season with a loss.

Of course, some team will lose in the National Championship and consider THAT to be the worst-type of defeat.  Syracuse fans still mourn the Keith Smart shot–even though they were the last team to taste the bitter pill of defeat in 1987.  They may have lost on a shot with a few seconds left, but everyone else was at home.  Syracuse had it better than all but one team.  And yet there is only painful memories.  So there is nothing great about losing late.  Or early.  Or in the middle.  It’s all about losses.  And yet the late losses sting the most.  So as the teams continue to win, the emotions increase.  The desire to win is as much to taste victory as it is to stave off the inevitable sadness that all but one fanbase will be forced to suffer through.  What a paradox!

March Madness may be the greatest event in sports, but one cannot help but notice just how much sadness permeates the whole process.  For this year’s crop of Elite 8, losing this weekend means no Final Four.  It means walking off the court as the net-cutting ladder is coming on.  The only consolation is that you did not have to endure the same thing on the final night of the season.  Maybe the bowl season is not so bad after all?

 

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, March Madness, Opinion and tagged , , , , ,
29 Mar 2013
4 Comments

Sweet Sixteen: The Best Cinderellas in the Modern Era

The Cleveland Fan has put together a list of the top 40 Cinderellas since 1979.  40?  Must be an homage to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.  Regardless, the Confidential does not like the list very much.

First–take Kansas, Villanova, and North Carolina State off.   Those teams did not overachieve in the post-season.  They underachieved during the regular season.  That Villanova team was stacked with talent, including experienced players that were ideal for their positions.  Besides, Cinderella cannot come from a major conference.

Second, here is the remaining list:

 

Sweet 16 of All-Time Cinderella teams:

  1. George Mason (2006) – Seed #11 / Finish: Final Four–including an epic defeat of #1 UConn along the way.
  2. VCU (2011) – Seed: #11 / Finish: Final Four–an outstanding run, especially from the play-in game.
  3. Butler (2010): Seed #5 / Finish Finals Runner-Up–the seed is a bit high for a Cinderella, but look at the great teams they beat along the way.
  4. Davidson (2008) – Seed: #9 / Finish: Elite Eight
  5. Gonzaga (1999) – Seed: #10 / Finish: Elite Eight
  6. Louisiana State (1986) – Seed: #11 / Finish: Final Four
  7. Florida Gulf Coast (2013)–Seed #15/ Finish: TBD
  8. Loyola Marymount (1990) – Seed #11 / Finish: Elite Eight
  9. Kent State (2002) – Seed: #10 / Finish: Elite Eight
  10. Xavier (2004) – Seed: #7 / Finish: Elite Eight
  11. LaSalle (2013): Seed #14 / Finish: TBD
  12. Northern Iowa (2010) – Seed: #9 / Finish: Sweet Sixteen
  13. Butler (2011) – Seed: #8 / Finish: Finals Runner-Up
  14. Tennessee-Chattanooga(1997) – Seed: #14 / Finish: Sweet Sixteen
  15. Cleveland State (1986) – Seed: #14 / Finish: Sweet Sixteen
  16. Valparaiso (1998) – Seed: #13 / Finish: Sweet Sixteen

How did we do? Did we miss anyone?  Disagree?

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, March Madness, Opinion and tagged , ,
27 Mar 2013
3 Comments

Because We Still Pretend to Care About Maryland

Did you know that Maryland is still playing in the NIT?  Did you care?  If yes, chances are you are a Maryland fan.  Actually, chances are many Maryland fans do not care.  Anyway, as long as the Maryland Terrapins are still nominally in the ACC, let’s find some Maryland NIT highlights on YouTube.

Here is one.

Oh, wait, that’s more of a Syracuse highlight.

This one is about the NIT.  Apparently.

Wow… someone did this.  OK.  It probably says Maryland in that blurry mess.

Here we go.  This is some of the high-quality basketball we’ve all come to expect out of Maryland in the post Juan Dixon era.

Ah screw, it.  Screw Maryland.

Time for some more DUNK CITY!

Florida Gulf Coast… the most exciting team since Phi Slamma Jamma.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, March Madness, Opinion and tagged , , ,
25 Mar 2013

Ranking College Basketball Programs in Florida

OK, unless you have been living under a particularly large rock, you know that Florida Gulf Coast beat Georgetown (i.e. the team picked by this author to win a bracket or two) and then beat San Diego State to make it to the Sweet 16.  You also know that the FGCU’s coach’s wife was a supermodel.  Or is.  Not sure if that is like being President, where you always get to call yourself a supermodel.  So, yeah, quite a story!  But, with FGCU beating Miami and playing Florida this week in the Sweet 16, how do YOU rank the Florida college basketball programs?

First, let’s identify all the schools by conference:

  • ACC: Florida State, Miami
  • Atlantic Sun: FGC, Stetson, Jacksonville, North Florida
  • Big East (old): South Florida
  • Conference USA: Central Florida
  • MEAC: Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M
  • SEC: Florida
  • Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic, Florida International

Second, let’s cull the list to eliminate those who have never made the big dance: Bethune Cookman, Stetson, and North Florida.  That reduces things to 10 teams.

Third, let’s rank the remaining 10 teams:

  1. Florida.  4 Final Fours.  2 National Championships.  A 70% winning percentage in NCAA tournament games.  Conference championships!  Very easy selection.
  2. Florida State.  The Seminoles have been invited to 10 Big Dances.  The 10-10 record means an average of at least one win per invite.  Not too shabby.  Had a nice ACC run last year too.
  3. Miami.  In the last 33 years, Miami has been invited to 5 NCAA tournaments, with a record of 4-5 (and counting).
  4. South Florida.  The USF Bulls have only been invited to 3 NCAA tournaments, and are 2-3 overall.  Struggling to get anywhere in the loaded Big East.
  5. Florida Gulf Coast.  The Eagles have never lost in the NCAA tournament!  Who can top that?  Have to put these guys at #5 already.
  6. Florida A&M.  With a 1-3 record in their 3 appearances, Florida A&M nestles right in behind FGC.
  7. Central Florida has had four one-and-dones in the NCAA tournament.  Still looking for that first win in March Madness though.  Gotta put them below the Eagles.
  8. Florida Atlantic.  One tournament appearance, about a dozen years ago.  Yawn.
  9. Florida International.  Coached by Richard Pitino, the last and only NCAA tournament appearance was in 1995.
  10. Jacksonville State.  Like the two schools above them, they had a one and done, albeit in 1986.

As you can see, Florida Gulf Coast is already #5 on the list of NCAA tournament wins.  An argument could be made that they are now the #4 program in the state.  Only a matter of time before conference realignment turns its eye towards these guys.  Conference USA?

What do you think?  Is too much credit being given for this one year?  Too little?

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Opinion, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , ,

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