The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the tag “march madness”

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 , , , , ,
25 Mar 2013

Confidential Bracket: Update 3/25/13

Who is in the running for the prize?  At the Sweet Sixteen, here is the top 25:

Round
Rank
Bracket
1
2
3
4
Semis
Finals
Bonus Pts
Total Pts
1
WinnersBracket
 48 39 – – – Louisville 28 115
2
Florida State
 50 30 – – – Kansas 24 104
3
TheEssentialsOfCool.com
 48 30 – – – Louisville 20 98
4
Boeheimian Rhapsody
 50 27 – – – Syracuse 20 97
5
KC’s Bracket
 46 33 – – – Louisville 16 95
6
LenVILLE
 48 30 – – – Louisville 16 94
6
Cuse Stormin the ACC
 48 30 – – – Syracuse 16 94
8
Goop’s Bracket
 40 33 – – – Miami (FL) 20 93
9
Bye Bye Big East
 46 33 – – – Georgetown 12 91
10
Rebecca’s Dandy Bracket
 40 30 – – – Duke 16 86
10
win prizes
 40 30 – – – Gonzaga 16 86
10
BracketBuster.
 46 24 – – – Kansas 16 86
10
Boeheims possible farewell
 44 30 – – – Syracuse 12 86
14
Will Bonn’s Bracket
 42 27 – – – Indiana 16 85
15
Da Cuseman Cometh
 42 30 – – – Syracuse 12 84
16
Maverick
 44 30 – – – Louisville 8 82
17
Cards 80 86 13?
 44 21 – – – Louisville 12 77
18
My Legit Bracket
 42 33 – – – Louisville 0 75
18
BeerThirty
 40 27 – – – Miami (FL) 8 75
18
Allen’s Bracket
 40 27 – – – Louisville 8 75
18
Otto the Great and Powerful
 42 33 – – – Louisville 0 75
22
KAOS
 36 30 – – – Georgetown 8 74
23
mikemab wolf
 42 27 – – – Ohio St. 4 73
23
*Commander Caffrey
 38 27 – – – Indiana 8 73
25
Mr. Tar Heel
 36 24 – – – Saint Louis 8 68
Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged , ,
24 Mar 2013

Confidential Bracket: Update 3/24/13

Who is in the running for the prize?  With a long way to go (the now-desperate rationalization of a team at the bottom).

Here is the top 25:

1
WinnersBracket
 48 21 – – – Louisville 28 97
2
Florida State
 50 18 – – – Kansas 24 92
3
TheEssentialsOfCool.com
 48 15 – – – Louisville 20 83
4
LenVILLE
 48 18 – – – Louisville 16 82
5
KC’s Bracket
 46 18 – – – Louisville 16 80
6
Boeheimian Rhapsody
 50 9 – – – Syracuse 20 79
7
Cuse Stormin the ACC
 48 12 – – – Syracuse 16 76
8
Goop’s Bracket
 40 15 – – – Miami (FL) 20 75
9
Bye Bye Big East
 46 15 – – – Georgetown 12 73
10
Cards 80 86 13?
 44 15 – – – Louisville 12 71
10
Rebecca’s Dandy Bracket
 40 15 – – – Duke 16 71
10
BracketBuster.
 46 9 – – – Kansas 16 71
13
Will Bonn’s Bracket
 42 12 – – – Indiana 16 70
14
Da Cuseman Cometh
 42 15 – – – Syracuse 12 69
15
win prizes
 40 12 – – – Gonzaga 16 68
15
Boeheims possible farewell
 44 12 – – – Syracuse 12 68
17
Maverick
 44 15 – – – Louisville 8 67
18
Allen’s Bracket
 40 12 – – – Louisville 8 60
19
mikemab wolf
 42 12 – – – Ohio St. 4 58
20
My Legit Bracket
 42 15 – – – Louisville 0 57
20
BeerThirty
 40 9 – – – Miami (FL) 8 57
20
Otto the Great and Powerful
 42 15 – – – Louisville 0 57
23
KAOS
 36 12 – – – Georgetown 8 56
24
*Commander Caffrey
 38 9 – – – Indiana 8 55
25
Mr. Tar Heel
 36 9 – – – Saint Louis 8 53
Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged , ,
23 Mar 2013

Confidential Bracket: Update 3/23/13

Who is in the running for the prize?  With a long way to go (the rationalization of a team at the bottom), here is the top 25:

1
Florida State
 50 – – – – Kansas 24 74
2
Boeheimian Rhapsody
 50 – – – – Syracuse 20 70
3
WinnersBracket
 48 – – – – Louisville 20 68
4
TheEssentialsOfCool.com
 48 – – – – Louisville 16 64
4
Cuse Stormin the ACC
 48 – – – – Syracuse 16 64
6
BracketBuster.
 46 – – – – Kansas 16 62
7
LenVILLE
 48 – – – – Louisville 12 60
8
KC’s Bracket
 46 – – – – Louisville 12 58
8
Will Bonn’s Bracket
 42 – – – – Indiana 16 58
8
Bye Bye Big East
 46 – – – – Georgetown 12 58
11
Cards 80 86 13?
 44 – – – – Louisville 12 56
11
Goop’s Bracket
 40 – – – – Miami (FL) 16 56
11
Rebecca’s Dandy Bracket
 40 – – – – Duke 16 56
11
win prizes
 40 – – – – Gonzaga 16 56
11
Boeheims possible farewell
 44 – – – – Syracuse 12 56
16
Da Cuseman Cometh
 42 – – – – Syracuse 12 54
17
Maverick
 44 – – – – Louisville 8 52
18
BeerThirty
 40 – – – – Miami (FL) 8 48
18
Allen’s Bracket
 40 – – – – Louisville 8 48
20
mikemab wolf
 42 – – – – Ohio St. 4 46
20
*Commander Caffrey
 38 – – – – Indiana 8 46
22
KAOS
 36 – – – – Georgetown 8 44
22
Mr. Tar Heel
 36 – – – – Saint Louis 8 44
24
My Legit Bracket
 42 – – – – Louisville 0 42
24
Otto the Great and Powerful
 42 – – – – Louisville 0 42
Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged , ,
22 Mar 2013

State of the Pack: Tournament Postmortem

One and done.  The saddest words in NCAA Basketball fandom.

This year, they apply to the Wolfpack.  Yes, I am going to once more whine about What Went Wrong, but first the all-important Disclaimer:

No disrespect intended to the Temple Owls.  They are a very good team and played an excellent game.  Hey, they were a Nine seed; can we really be surprised that they upset an Eight?  Not me, folks; I had them to win this one in my bracket.  It’s one of the few things that are going right there, and the one thing I wanted to be wrong about.

As usual, the Pack came out with an air of entitlement, as if they could just walk out there and would be awarded victory.  They didn’t realize until they were down 18 that this was a bad plan.  When they did, they went to the usual Plan B:  Scott Wood.

Unfortunately, Temple remembered to guard Wood, and he was stifled until late in the 2nd.  Meanwhile, the Owls had a three-point threat of their own in Jake O’Brien, and he dropped 4 of 6 from behind the arc for 12 of his 18 pts.  State rarely got a hand up against him.  Frankly, it seems the Pack had one player who played defense with any consistency all year, that being Richard Howell.

Just when all seemed lost, State started to rally.  Wood began to hit, starting with a couple of free throws followed by threes on two successive possesions. But it was late in the second half by then.  Still, Pack nation had new hope.

Things really got interesting when the lead was cut to two on a Lorenzo Brown three-changed-to-two with two seconds left (no gripe though, his foot was clearly on the line per the replay).  But Temple guard Khalif Wyatt would have none of it.  When he was fouled on the next possession, he calmly sank two free throws to bury the Pack.  Wyatt finished with 31 points to lead all scorers, while Lorenzo Brown led State with 22.

In addition to the forementioned problems, State could not buy a free throw of their own.  This had been a season-long problem as well, and is inexcusable.  Only Wood gets a pass on this one; the rest of the team should spend the entire summer shooting free throws.

So goes another season, and it is not likely anyone will be picking State to win the conference next year.  That won’t be a bad thing, as we seem to fare better when we can sneak up on people.  Except for 1974, and David Thompson isn’t coming back.

So what now?  I suggest the usual:  watch and root for (or against, if you are one of those nobody-but-us fans)  Carolina, Miami and yes, even Duke.  Enjoy the upsets.  Writhe in pain as your bracket inevitably crumbles (or maybe that’s just me).

Football is coming.  And the expectations will be close to zero.

Just the way we like it.

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, NC State Correspondent, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , ,
22 Mar 2013
2 Comments

Confidential Bracket: Update 3/22/13

Who is in the running for the prize?  With a long way to go (the rationalization of a team at the bottom), here is the top 25:

1
Florida State
 28 – – – – Kansas 12 40
2
Rebecca’s Dandy Bracket
 26 – – – – Duke 12 38
2
WinnersBracket
 26 – – – – Louisville 12 38
4
LenVILLE
 28 – – – – Louisville 8 36
5
TheEssentialsOfCool.com
 24 – – – – Louisville 8 32
5
Boeheimian Rhapsody
 24 – – – – Syracuse 8 32
7
Goop’s Bracket
 22 – – – – Miami (FL) 8 30
7
BracketBuster.
 22 – – – – Kansas 8 30
9
Cards 80 86 13?
 24 – – – – Louisville 4 28
9
KC’s Bracket
 24 – – – – Louisville 4 28
9
Bye Bye Big East
 24 – – – – Georgetown 4 28
9
Da Cuseman Cometh
 24 – – – – Syracuse 4 28
9
Maverick
 24 – – – – Louisville 4 28
14
Cuse Stormin the ACC
 22 – – – – Syracuse 4 26
14
Boeheims possible farewell
 22 – – – – Syracuse 4 26
16
win prizes
 20 – – – – Gonzaga 4 24
17
My Legit Bracket
 22 – – – – Louisville 0 22
17
Will Bonn’s Bracket
 18 – – – – Indiana 4 22
17
Allen’s Bracket
 22 – – – – Louisville 0 22
17
QBcuse
 22 – – – – Louisville 0 22
17
Otto the Great and Powerful
 22 – – – – Louisville 0 22
22
mikemab wolf
 20 – – – – Ohio St. 0 20
22
Mr. Tar Heel
 16 – – – – Saint Louis 4 20
22
*Commander Caffrey
 20 – – – – Indiana 0 20
25
BeerThirty
 18 – – – – Miami (FL) 0 18
Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged , ,
21 Mar 2013
6 Comments

And Down Goes Pitt…

Once upon a time, Pitt’s football team was the sole source of disappointment.  Year after year, the decent recruits at Pitt have failed to live up to the hype.  They have more trips to Birmingham than the BCS.  But now the basketball team is joining the football team in mediocrity.  This year, Pitt was insulted (by some) to have received “only” an 8-seed, and then went out and lost by 18 to the 9th-seeded Wichita St. Shockers.

All you need to do is go here to read the comments from the Pitt fans.  They seem to be losing some faith in Jamie Dixon.  Of course, they should also recognize that Syracuse fans had lost faith in Jim Boeheim after 10 seasons too.  And even in the 1990s, Syracuse fans questioned whether Boeheim could win a national title.  For Dixon, he needs to just get the Panthers to a Final Four first.

But the 2012-2013 season was not about that.  From a Big Dance standpoint, losing to Wichita State is not the end of the world.  It is highly disappointing, however, to lose by 18.  So it is understandable if Panthers fans are frustrated.  Dixon is getting the recruits… like the football team, those recruits need to start meeting their potential.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Opinion and tagged , , , ,
21 Mar 2013

The Confidential Bracket Contest: Only Minutes Left…

Again, we will be holding a contest for friends of the Confidential.  That means YOU, plus anyone else that you want to invite.  The prize will be $25 via PayPal.  If interested, we will be using Yahoo:

Group ID#: 25957
Password: acc

Here is the link: http://y.ahoo.it/dHZr68Lp

Go ahead and join today…

The Confidential.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Bracket Contest, March Madness and tagged , , , ,
20 Mar 2013

The Confidential Bracket Contest: Only 15 Hours Left…

Again, we will be holding a contest for friends of the Confidential.  That means YOU, plus anyone else that you want to invite.  The prize will be $25 via PayPal.  If interested, we will be using Yahoo:

Group ID#: 25957
Password: acc

Here is the link: http://y.ahoo.it/dHZr68Lp

Go ahead and join today…

The Confidential.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Bracket Contest, March Madness and tagged , , , ,

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