CougCenter

NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMETHREAD: Day 4, Session 1

2010-03-21T16:11:25Z

For MMOD, go here. The day starts in Buffalo, where Wild Wings were once born.

	1	2	Total
(8) Gonzaga Bulldogs			0
(1) Syracuse Orange			0

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

(10) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
@ (2) Ohio St. Buckeyes

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010, 11:20 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - Second Round - Bradley Center - Milwaukee, WI

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

(5) Michigan St. Spartans
@ (4)Maryland Terrapins

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010, 11:30 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - Second Round - Spokane Memorial Arena - Spokane, WA

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

(10) Missouri Tigers
@ (2) West Virginia Mountaineers

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010, 11:40 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - Second Round - HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

(12) Cornell Big Red
@ (4) Wisconsin Badgers

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010, 11:50 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - Second Round - Veterans Memorial Arena - Jacksonville, FL

Complete Coverage >

The Madness Rolls On: Day 4 Preview

2010-03-21T06:49:56Z

via www.rotorob.com

OK so who expected the Kansas loss last night? (crickets). Yesterday was full of surprises, with SMC making the Sweet 16, and Nuss moving one step closer to winning his trip (although this isn't exactly surprising). Well now that everyone's bracket is pretty much shattered, lets look ahead to the big games on Sunday. But first, let me explain the Dicky V. picture. I was looking at the featured brackets on ESPN earlier, and I came across his, I was curious, so I clicked on it, only to find that his bracket was in the 9th percentile. Yes, you read that right. Personally, I had 1.5x more points than him. Anyways on to the games today. After the jump, you'll find sites, times, announcers, and the almighty KenPom's prediction. CLICK IT.

Session 1: 9:00 AM

GAME	ANNOUNCERS	SITE
#1 Syracuse vs. #8 Gonzaga	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo

Before Saturday, many saw Syracuse as the most vulnerable of the #1 seeds. Gonzaga pulled off a win, tearing apart one of the top defenses in the country against FSU.

KenPom says: Cuse 79-71

Session 2: 11:20 AM

GAME	ANNOUNCERS	SITE
#2 West Virginia vs. #10 Missouri	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo
#10 Georgia Tech vs. #2 Ohio State	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#12 Cornell vs. #4 Wisconsin	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville
#5 Michigan State vs. #4 Maryland	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski	Spokane

West Virginia survived an early scare from Morgan St. in the first round, before rolling to a 27 point victory. Mizzou was able to upset #7 Clemson in the first round.

KenPom says: Mountaineers 68-66

In the other 10 vs. 2 game, Ohio State is coming off a 17 point win over UCSB in the first round, and Georgia Tech has some momentum after their 5 point upset of Oklahoma State. Can they take down a second OSU?

KenPom says: OSU 71-66

Cornell filled the tradition of a 12 beating a 5 seed with their victory over Temple. The team that is quite possibly the most underseeded in the tourney will take on the Wisconsin Badgers, who survived a late scare of their own against Wofford (had anyone ever even heard of them?).

KenPom says: Badgers 67-59

West Coast. The final game of the timeslot pits Michigan against Maryland. Sorry, don't know enough to have any analysis on either team.

KenPom says: Terps 74-71

Session 3: 1:50 PM

Sunday Afternoon: Window 3
GAME	ANNOUNCERS	SITE
#3 Pittsburgh vs. #6 Xavier	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#1 Duke vs. #8 Cal	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville
#4 Purdue vs. #5 Texas A&M	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski	Spokane

Both teams were able to pull off double digit wins in the first round. Here's to hoping for a closer game between these two teams.

KenPom says: Xavier 68-67

West Coast. Duke might be a little worried after the vulnerability of the #1's was exposed yesterday. Imagine going to the Sweet 16 with only 2 1 seeds. Cal went crazy on Louisville in the first round, and is going to try to put both of the Pac 10 representatives in the Sweet Sixteen.

KenPom says: Blue Devils 77-70

Purdue was able to pull out a win against popular upset pick Siena in the first round. A&M rolled to a double digit victory.

KenPom says: Purdue 64-63

Only 3 sessions today. If KenPom's projections are correct, this should be a very exciting day of basketball. After this we get a couple days off, only to pick up the basketball again mid week. Bucherbp still leads the CougCenter bracket challenge. Just about everyone's ahead of Vitale. Happy watching!

Poll

How far did you have Kansas going?

NCAA Day Three Recap

2010-03-21T05:42:39Z

Business first: go here and take the SBN poll.

Day three of the tournament just happened and it was full of not-so-fun times. It was nice outside and I missed the early games, but I'm confident enough to run down the action for those of you that missed it.

This post is brought to you by the Northern Iowa Sex Panthers:

via cdn0.sbnation.com

60% of the time, they kill your bracket.

Buffalo Wild Wings was back in action again today. They didn't feel like going to overtime, but they sure did like upsets. I can now confidently say that I hate Buffalo Wild Wings and so does my bracket.
The verdict on the Wonton Tacos from Applebees is in: they're good. Try the pulled pork Wonton Taco.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's hit the big news of the day. NUSS IS IN THE SWEET 16! KSU took out BYU, whom I thought would be their biggest test, handily. Jacob Pullen is now my new favorite player in the tournament after putting up 34 points, on 7-12 three point shooting, to lead the Wildcats to victory over BYU. Since my brackets done, I'm on the KSU bandwagon and I suggest you all hop aboard.
The second biggest news of the day was Kansas losing to Northern Iowa. That noise you heard around 4:30 today was 2/3 of America ripping up their brackets. Northern Iowa is a good team but had no business beating Kansas, the odds on favorite to win the tournament. How did they do it? I honestly couldn't tell you since CBS decided a certain other game should be on my TV. Just quickly running down the stats, KU turned the ball over more and NIU made a few more threes. Which leads me to....
Ali Farokhmanesh is now the Cinderella hero of the tournament after hitting what was the game winning three on a shot that was one of those "no no no (swish) yes!" kind of shots. He's from Pullman and has you-know-whats of steel. If Tony Bennett recruited him, we'd be in the Sweet Sixteen right now.
Pac-10 update: we're 3-0. Still the best conference in the America.
UW won and Seattle has been overtaken by "Husky Fever". If you have a cure, please let me know because it's getting to be a problem over here.
Steve Alford wore this:
via nbcsportsmedia4.msnbc.com
Bad idea, Steve. It didn't work.
This man, however, did win:
via weblogs.baltimoresun.com
St. Marys beat Villanova in a game that shouldn't shock anyone that has seen Villanova's play in the tournament. Omar Samhan (Enter the Samhan) put up 32 for a two game total of 61. I, for one, welcome the Samhan to my dreams (Thanks announcers!).

That's all I've got for today. Tomorrow ends the round of 32 and also ends the suffering for wives and girlfriends everywhere. Feel free to add anything I missed or scream about your brackets in the comments below. If anyone would like to trade, feel free to let me know. Brackets are like fantasy sports, right?

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Day 3, Session 2

2010-03-20T21:49:42Z

60% of the time, Northern Iowa wins every time. MMOD!

18:35 remaining in the 1st	1	2	Total
(9) Northern Iowa Panthers	3		3
(1) Kansas Jayhawks	2		2

Complete Coverage >

	1	2	Total
(11) Old Dominion Monarchs			0
(3) Baylor Bears			0

Complete Coverage >

Next Game

(11) Whiny McLoserFace
@ (3) New Mexico Lobos

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010, 2:50 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - Second Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA

Complete Coverage >

EDIT NUSS: I'm going to add the last two games of the night here, too.

Here we go. KANSAS STATE GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO.

17:15 remaining in the 1st	1	2	Total
BYU Cougars	10		10
Kansas St. Wildcats	2		2

Complete Coverage >

18:10 remaining in the 1st	1	2	Total
Wake Forest Demon Deacons	6		6
Kentucky Wildcats	2		2

Complete Coverage >

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Day 3, Session 1

2010-03-20T16:45:16Z

Finally, Saturday has arrived, and we get what we all want: more Murray (State):

Next Game

(10) St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels
@ (2) Villanova Wildcats

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010, 10:05 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - South Region - Second Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI

Complete Coverage >

Kenpom says: Nova 82-79

Next Game

(13) Murray St. Racers
@ (5) Butler Bulldogs

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010, 12:20 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - Second Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA

Complete Coverage >

Kenpom says: Butler 66-61

Next Game

(14) Ohio Bobcats
@ (6) Tennessee Volunteers

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010, 12:35 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - Second Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI

Complete Coverage >

Kenpom says: Tenn 74-67

Who likes double-digit seeds?

On the surface it looks like we may not get any close games out of the morning/early afternoon games. But if you check the kenpom projections, things are closer than they seem. The only one that really should be a comfortable win is Tennessee over Ohio; but then again we all thought Georgetown was going to wipe the floor with the green and white. The fun thing is there's a very realistic chance one or two of these low seeds makes it to the Sweet Sixteen. My money would be on Saint Mary's, if I had to choose one.

This morning is really just to get you primed and ready to go for the Huskies cakewalk to the Sweet Sixteen this evening. Wooo! Gooooo Dawgs!*

*But really, I hope New Mexico wins by 50.

NCAA Tourney Day Three Preview

2010-03-20T05:31:21Z

EDIT NUSS: Seriously, I think Grady, Craig and I are wondering if we're ever going to have to write anything again, you guys are doing such a good job. Sheesh. Way to go.

via limeshot.com

Welcome to the second round! I don't have much to say, other than there will be 8 games on Saturday. After the jump comes the matchups, sites, times, and to appease cougfan, the announcer pairings. Also, what games we will see on the west coast. We all know who Nuss will be watching. In the CougCenter bracket challenge, BucherBP comes into the day with the outright lead, 10 points ahead of second.

Session 1: 10:00 AM

Providence, RI-Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery

#2 Villanova vs. #10 St. Mary's

Villanova survived their scare against Robert Morris in the first round. We'll see if they can recover and take care of St. Mary's, who pulled off the upset against Richmond in the first round.

KenPom says: Nova 82-79 40%

Session 2: 12:30 PM

Providence-Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery-We'll see this game on the WC

#14 Ohio vs. #6 Tennessee

Ohio pulled off the upset of Georgetown, severely damaging brackets everywhere. Tennessee was able to pull out a win against SDSU that came down to the final seconds.

KenPom says: 74-67 Tennessee 75%

San Jose-Dedes/Wenzel

#13 Murray State vs. #5 Butler

Murray State had the memorable buzzer beater against Vandy. Need I say more? Butler took care of UTEP fairly handily.

KenPom says: Butler 66-61 32%

Session 3: 2:30 PM

Providence- Verne Lundquist/Bill Raferty

#9 Northern Iowa vs. #1 Kansas

Kansas cruised to victory over Lehigh in the first round, while N. Iowa upset UNLV (if you call a 9 beating an 8 and upset).

KenPom says: Kansas 65-57 16%

New Orleans- Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas

#3 Baylor vs. #11 Old Dominion

ODU had the 1 point upset of Notre Dame in the first round. Didn't get to see the Baylor game.

KenPom says: Baylor 65-61 66%

San Jose- Dedes/Wenzel- West coast will see this

#11 Washington vs. #3 New Mexico

Quincy Pondexter had the layin in the final seconds to lift the Huskies over Marquette. UNM had a tough game against Montana, but were able to pull away in the end.

KenPom says: Washington 80-77 59%

Session 4: 5:00 PM

OKC- Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner- West coast

#2 Kansas State vs. #7 Brigham Young

BYU had the double overtime thriller against Florida in the first round. K-State cruised to victory over North Texas. Will Nuss get closer to that trip to Vegas? Or will BYU crush his dreams?

KenPom says: Kansas State 80-79 50%

New Orleans- Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas-

#1 Kentucky vs. #9 Wake Forest

Kentucky was victorious over E Tenn St. Wake had the win over a previously #1 ranked team in Tejas, pulling out a 1 point win.

KenPom says: Kentucky 75-68 22%

Poll

How's your bracket?

NCAA Day Two Recap

2010-03-20T07:35:56Z

First things first: go here and read about the SBN survey. Then take the 10 minutes or less to do the survey. It's for a good cause.

If you missed out on today's "action", you should be proud of yourself. The weather was nice and the tournament was the complete opposite of yesterday.

After the jump, you'll get a bullet point rundown of the day. Don't expect much analysis this time, because it really wasn't needed today. Instead, you'll find some fun observations from the day that kept me entertained.

Buffalo Wild Wings was working hard yesterday sending games into overtime. Games were coming down to the wire left and right and the action was non-stop. The only thing I can blame for today is the fact that everyone who was at the ole' BWW yesterday was too hung over to get out of bed and business was slow.
The Pac-10 is now 2-0. Down year? Yeah, right.
The morning action was so exciting that the game thread turned in to a scavenger hunt for the Cornell male cheerleader. Instead of three close games, we had three blowouts. The fruits of our labor, by the way, can be found here, here, here, and here. BigWood and I should be private investigators.
Wofford gave Wisconsin a game before finally falling by 4 in what was the closest game of the day. The real story here is that Wofford's mascot is the Boston Terrier. When WSU was still WSC, our mascot was, at one time, "Squirt the Terrier". I cannot express how happy I am that they made the change to Cougars.
Mizzou runs a brand of basketball aptly named "40 minutes of hell". You need to be in shape just to watch their games, let alone to play in them. I actually had to take a breather and switch to the Wisconsin game just to relax for a bit. There's nothing like a 53-49 game with a tempo hovering around 54 possession per team to fall asleep to. Big Ten basketball, catch the fever!
Siena, who was playing at the same time as the fighting Boston Terriers, sports a mascot known as Bernie "Saint" Bernard. Taking a closer look, their logo looks like Siena is eating Bernie.
via hoopedia.nba.com
After today, I'm convinced the selection committee has been messing with us all along. I saw a matchup between the Missouri and Clemson Tigers followed by a matchup between the Utah State and Texas A&M Aggies. If the tiebreaker in the selection room isn't what a school's mascot is, I don't know what it is
Gonzaga won. At one point, it looked like they were going to run the nation's best defense out of the gym, which was impressive. This was followed by Grady jinxing Gonzaga and calling that they were going to cough up the lead.
Evan Turner had an off day for Ohio State, but Dallas Lauderdale and Jon Diebler (or KIEBLER as he was dubbed) did not. Diebler was 8-14 from the field, including 7-12 from deep. Lauderdale, on the other hand, had 4 points (both on dunks), 12 rebounds, and 8 blocks. I don't know why, but UCSB kept trying to float shots over him, only to see him swat them like King Kong swats airplanes. It might be time to try a new approach against OSU.
Jerome Randle hit a 35 foot runner at the halftime buzzer. Not to be outdone, Adam Brown hit a 40 foot shot at halftime just minutes later in a different game. I missed the second one because I was hypnotized by Lauderdale's dunks.

That's it for today. Gus Johnson barely got to scream and the action was enough to make me wonder why I was still watching. If Thursday was any indication, the Saturday games should be awesome. Feel free to add anything I missed. Also, make sure you walk it out this morning.

SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice

2010-03-20T00:47:54Z

EDIT NUSS: Take or don't take. Up to you. But it'd be cool to give $500 to the rebuild effort in Haiti or something ...

>> Take SB Nation Survey

Hello sports fans! We're always striving to provide you with the best experience possible and it's been quite some time since we checked in with you.

So we're rolling out this survey to learn more about you and your sports world. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete.

We really appreciate your time and this is also going to help make a donation to a good cause.

By next Thursday (3/25) at 11:59pm PST the site that has the highest percentage of their community filling out the attached survey about their sports interests and consumption will win $500 to donate to a charity of their choice. We will leave it up to the discretion of the community manager(s) of the winning blog to decide how to choose the particular charity.

You can take the survey HERE

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WYR2WQT

Thanks for your support!

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Day 2, Session 4

2010-03-20T02:11:49Z

Too much.... TV.... Internet....

Session 4

(16) Vermont vs. (1) Syracuse
(9) Louisville vs. (8) California
(13) Houston vs. (4) Maryland

Pac-10, represent!

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Day 2, Session 3

2010-03-19T21:40:11Z

Cornell wins the morning. Who will come up big in the evening?

View full size photo »

I'm going to take up a little less space this time.

Right Now

(12) Utah State vs. (5) Texas A&M

Session 3

(9) Florida State vs. (8) Gonzaga

(10) Georgia Tech vs. (7) Oklahoma State

(16) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (1) Duke

(12) New Mexico State vs. (5) Michigan State

Enjoy.

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Day Two, Session 1

2010-03-19T16:00:45Z

Read my day two preview! Read my day two preview! (Is that shameless enough?)

Hey everyone, there is a Buffalo Wild Wings that just opened three miles from my apartment. If the Cougs reach the tourney next year, I invite you all to come stay in my 680 square-foot palace so that we can go to Buffalo Wild Wings and guide our Cougs to a national title. We are not as dumb as those "Boston" fans.

Click here for CBS March Madness on Demand!

Next Game

Morgan St. Bears
@ West Virginia Mountaineers

Friday, Mar 19, 2010, 9:15 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY

Complete Coverage >

This game is in Buffalo? Do you think there is a Buffalo Wild Wings there? If so, I would skip the game and head there if I was a Morgan State fan.

Next Game

Minnesota Golden Gophers
@ Xavier Musketeers

Friday, Mar 19, 2010, 9:25 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - Bradley Center - Milwaukee, WI

Complete Coverage >

The good news for the loser: There is plenty of cheap beer to drown your sorrows in Milwaukee. The winner advances to the second round and keeps hope alive to become:

via mayfairfoodmarket.com

Next Game

Cornell Big Red
@ Temple Owls

Friday, Mar 19, 2010, 9:30 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - Veterans Memorial Arena - Jacksonville, FL

Complete Coverage >

Could the full name of Jacksonville actually be Samuel L. Jacksonville? I would hope so.

THE MADNESS CONTINUES: Day Two Tourney Preview

2010-03-19T15:26:50Z

Grady Here: Use this thread to discuss Session 1 this morning (Morgan St./WVU, Cornell/Temple, Minny/Xavier)

Dancing Football Here: Ignore Grady, there will be a thread up shortly, complete with Buffalo Wild Wings and cheap beer references. Grady Again: Like Seth Davis, I should be ignored.

Did we all get a good night's sleep, with visions of Buzz Williams dancing in our heads?

Yesterday reminded us why we act like a five year old on Christmas morning this time of year. I won't go into the details, since cougfan already did that, and you probably all know anyway. The most important thing that happened for our little community: Nuss's K-State Wildcats have survived into the second round! Go Wildcats!

via theshiver.com

My anecdotal review of history says that one awesome day begets a terrible day of blowouts and bad basketball. I sincerely hope my anecdotal history is a bunch of crap and there is more awesome today. The highlights and announcers (including Gus!) after the jump.

Friday Morning Window 1 (Starts at 9:15 am)
Game	Announcers	Site
#15 Morgan State vs. #2 West Virginia	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo
#11 Minnesota vs. #6 Xavier	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#12 Cornell vs. #5 Temple	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville

Friday Morning Window 2 (Starts at 11:25 am)
Game	Announcers	Site
#10 Missouri vs. #7 Clemson	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo
#14 Oakland vs. #3 Pittsburgh	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#13 Wofford vs. #4 Wisconsin	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville
#13 Siena vs. #4 Purdue	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski	Spokane

Friday Evening Window 3 (Starts at 4:10 pm)
Game	Announcers	Site
#9 Florida State vs. #8 Gonzaga	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo
#10 Georgia Tech vs. #7 Oklahoma State	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#16 Arkansas-PB vs. #1 Duke	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville
#12 New Mexico State vs. #5 Michigan State	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski	Spokane

Friday Evening Window 4 (Starts at 6:30 pm)
Game	Announcers	Site
#16 Vermont vs. #1 Syracuse	Gus Johnson/Len Elmore	Buffalo
#15 UC Santa Barbara vs. #2 Ohio State	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel	Milwaukee
#13 Houston vs. #4 Maryland	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg	Jacksonville
#9 Louisville vs. #8 California	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski	Spokane

These tables via hdsportsguide.com.

Games That Could Be More Awesomer Than The Other Awesome Games:

#12 Utah State vs. #5 Texas A&M (1:45 pm)

There is a lot of pressure on these teams to put on a show, as they are all alone in between sessions. Utah State is actually ranked higher on kenpom than A&M and is the predicted winner. Utah State likes to slow the tempo down and they are very efficient. Look for the battle of the Aggies to come down to the wire, where Texas A&M may clank their way to an early exit at the foul line.

#11 Minnesota vs. #6 Xavier

This game gets top billing as the Fanmatch of the day for kenpom. We saw how that went with UW-Marquette yesterday! Blake Hoffarber of Minnesota is the most efficient offensive player in the nation, and he could be an X-factor (especially if it comes down to a last second shot.) Jordan Crawford controls the ball (29% usage) for Xavier.

#13 Siena vs. #4 Purdue

I didn't pick this upset in my bracket, but I have a feeling I may regret that today. Purdue is just not the same without Robbie Hummel. For Siena, Ryan Rossiter could be huge down low. He is an excellent rebounder on both ends.

#9 Louisville vs. #8 California

Go Bears! Show the world your limitless range Jerome Randle, show them.

Let's have more overtimes fellas, and last second shots! We expect nothing less!

NCAA Day One Recap

2010-03-19T05:38:24Z

For those of you who missed the first day, you missed what was probably the best day of the tournament in a very long time.

After the jump, I'll give you a little run down of the festivities.

That jump was presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

With the exception of a few blowouts, the games were all tied, or close to it, at the final TV timeout. The day started with a double OT UF-BYU game, an OT game to fend off a 15-2 upset, and a last second shot by ODU to beat ND. When your NCAA day starts like that, you know it's going to be good.
This is as close as you're going to get to an actual Jimmer Jam. I scoured the internet and there's no evidence Jimmer Fredette can dunk. It's like trying to photograph Bigfoot
Speaking of BYU, Loyd! is now my favorite player in the tournament. Clutch, fo-hawk sporting, and named after what Ari Gold screams at his assistant. You can't ask for a better combination. That said, for Nuss' sake I hope BYU loses by 50.
Robert Morris, or Bob Mo as they were affectionately dubbed, only lost on the scoreboard. Too bad winning hearts doesn't get you to the round of 32.
Vanderbilt lost to Murray State in an upset that actually wasn't that much of an upset. The SEC isn't that good and neither is Vandy.
Butler rolled UTEP in a game that UTEP led by 6 at the half. Butler has, from what I saw, one guy that can dunk. Athleticism was not the key to their victory. When a team hits 10 three pointers in the second half, and one guy hits 6 of those (!!!!), you may want to re-evaluate your perimeter defense.
Ohio ran Georgetown out of the gym in what truly was the upset of the day. Did somebody forget to tell Georgetown that Ohio wasn't OSU and Armon Bassett is not Evan Turner?
The Pac-Ten is undefeated in the tournament. By my estimation, this means we're the best conference in America.
I didn't know who Spero Dedes was and I now know why. He's terrible. He knew virtually nothing about the game going on in front of him. For the next UW game he calls, I hope he practices saying Pon-dexter. There's no 'I' in Pondexter, but there is a "Xerox", so copy that name down and say it to yourself for the next two days. Note: I used the x twice, because it's hard to spell with x's
Kenpom had UW-Marquette as a 72-71 Marquette win. A shootout broke out in San Jose that blew that prediction out of the water. Kenpom also had UW-Marquette as his "Fan Match". I was entertained by it.
Texas "Horned it" by having one of the most epic meltdowns I've seen in a while. They lost a chance to win in regulation, and blew an 8 point lead in OT. They lost because of, you guess it, missed free throws. They really could use a free throw coach.
If you're watching the tournament with your girlfriend and the Bud Light "clunkers" commercial comes on, it's OK to laugh at Carrot Top, but laughing at the "clunker girlfriend" part is liable to get you slapped.

That's it for the first day. If you missed it, I suggest you tune in tomorrow and hope it will be half as exciting as today was. Feel free to add anything I missed in the comments below

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Session 4

2010-03-19T02:00:31Z

You never know where the sex panther will strike next.

One last time... for CBS March Madness On Demand go here.

Next Game

(9) Wake Forest Demon Deacons
@ (8) Texas Longhorns

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 6:45 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA
Kenpom: Texas 77-72

Complete Coverage >

How quickly do you think they'll mention Texas was a former #1 team? One minute in? Two?

Next Game

(16) Lehigh Mountain Hawks
@ (1) Kansas Jayhawks

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 6:40 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - First Round - Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK
Kenpom: Kansas 90-63

Complete Coverage >

If this happens, 67% of Americans will throw their bracket out the window.

Next Game

(11) San Diego St. Aztecs
@ (6) Tennessee Volunteers

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 6:55 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - First Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI
Kenpom: Vols 65-64

Complete Coverage >

The Fightin' Jim Sterks versus the Fightin' Bruce Pearls!

Next Game

(14) Montana Grizzlies
@ (3) New Mexico Lobos

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 6:50 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA
Kenpom: UNM 72-65

Complete Coverage >

Anthony Johnson, against a weak 3-seed, by kenpom standards. This could get very interesting.

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Session 3

2010-03-18T23:00:31Z

If you want to watch the games on CBS March Madness On Demand, click here.

Next Game

(9) Northern Iowa Panthers
@ (8) UNLV Runnin Rebels

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 4:10 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - First Round - Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK
Kenpom: UNI 58-57

I chose Northern Iowa to win this game because a friend of a friend went there. I dare any of the "mainstream media" sports sites to bring forth that kind of analysis.

Next Game

(16) East Tennessee St. Buccaneers
@ (1) Kentucky Wildcats

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 4:10 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA
Kenpom: Kentucky 77-60

Finally, a 1/16 game! This one may be closer than you think. And by closer, I mean less than a 20 point blowout.

Next Game

Washington Huskies
@ Marquette Golden Eagles

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 4:20 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - East Region - First Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA
Kenpom: MARQ 72-71

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 29

posted by Jeff Nusser 1 day ago

0 comments | 0 recs

Four Pac-10 teams headed to the postseason

posted by Jeff Nusser 3 days ago

9 comments | 0 recs

A fun dose of Husky anti-fandom.

Next Game

Ohio Bobcats
@ Georgetown Hoyas

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 4:25 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - Midwest Region - First Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI
Kenpom: G'Town 78-66

Peter King AND Jay Mariotti went to Ohio? They must teach a lot of arrogance in their journalism program.

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Session 2&1/2

2010-03-18T21:45:19Z

If you want to watch the games on CBS March Madness On Demand, click here.

Seriously, 16 games today and this one is on its own little island? Weird.

Next Game

(12) UTEP Miners
@ (5) Butler Bulldogs

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 1:55 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA
Kenpom: Butler 65-63

Butler is the team that messes with your bracket every year. UTEP is Mike Price's school. Whose basketball team is superior to the other basketball team?

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Session 2

2010-03-18T18:30:15Z

If you want to watch the games on CBS March Madness On Demand, click here.

Next Game

(13) Murray St. Racers
@ (4) Vanderbilt Commodores

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 11:30 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA
Kenpom: Vandy 73-70

One of the more realistic 13-4 upset possibilities. Bracket meeting? Murray State, present. (I stole that joke from Tony Reali. Worth it.)

Next Game

North Texas Eagles
@ Kansas St. Wildcats

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 11:50 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK
Kenpom: K-State 85-65

The biggest Kansas State fan in the country

posted by Jeff Nusser about 19 hours ago

12 comments | 0 recs

Nuss' road to Vegas starts here. Don't fret, North Texas. If you lose, the Texas state board of education will just have the contest erased from the history books.

Next Game

(14) Sam Houston St. Bearkats
@ (3) Baylor Bears

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 11:55 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - South Region - First Round - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA
Kenpom: Baylor 83-69

To me, Sam Houston State will always be the school that made Paul Wulff's Eastern Washington Eagles blow a 20 point lead in the fourth quarter of the 2004 I-AA playoffs. Yep, that still doesn't make me feel much better about Wulff.

Next Game

St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels
@ Richmond Spiders

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 12:00 PM PDT
NCAA Tournament - South Region - First Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI
Kenpom: St. Mary's 68-67

Nuss likes Richmond to go to the Sweet Sixteen. I don't think they'll get out of the first round. Granted, the win over Gonzaga wasn't as impressive as you may think, but St. Mary's just shoots the lights out.

NCAA TOURNAMENT OPEN THREAD: Session 1

2010-03-18T16:09:43Z

First things first. Read Cougfan's day one preview. I've decided to do threads session by session, since we should (hopefully) have a billion comments.

If you want to watch the games on CBS March Madness On Demand, click here.

Next Game

(10) Florida Gators
@ (7) BYU Cougars

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 9:20 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - West Region - First Round - Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK
Vegas: BYU (-5)
Kenpom: BYU 78-71

BYU is #8 in the Kenpom rankings, but comes in as a #7 seed.

Next Game

(11) Old Dominion Monarchs
@ (6) Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 9:25 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - South Region - First Round - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA
Vegas: ND (-2)
Kenpom: ODU 65-64

Every time I see Luke Harangody, I remember how overhyped he was prior to the Cougs' tourney matchup with ND. And I smile.

Next Game

(15) Robert Morris Colonials
@ (2) Villanova Wildcats

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010, 9:30 AM PDT
NCAA Tournament - South Region - First Round - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI
Vegas: Nova (-18.5)
Kenpom: Nova 86-67

Scottie Reynolds will not start, but he'll still play. So don't worry about an early bracket buster. Maybe he just missed the bus?

NCAA Tournament Day One Preview

2010-03-18T01:27:28Z

EDIT NUSS: ~~This is hereby deemed the official open thread of the day's basketball. Unless the comments get to be too numerous, in which case, we'll open a new one.~~ Grady here: I'm going to do threads session by session, since I'm hoping we're overrun by comments. But read this one first. NUSS HERE: I've been usurped! :-) DANCING FOOTBALL HERE: I felt left out. GRADY HERE: I forgot to use all caps the first time.

Also, SB Nation told us we could make $20 if we put the following widget for CBS's MMOD on our threads, so you're stuck with it. Sorry, cougfan, if this ruins the integrity of your preview, but hey -- 20 bucks is 20 bucks! Besides, never hurts to have the scores at the top of the thread, right? Also, you can launch straight to online streaming of the various games from here.

Launch Player

It's the most wonderful time of the year. March Madness starts Thursday, meaning wall to wall tournament games, and consequently angry girlfriends/wives everywhere, for the next four days. If you haven't called in sick yet, feel free to fake a cold that lasts for at least 48 hours.

When: First tip-off at 9:20. Why they couldn't pick a nice round number like 9:30 is beyond me.

Where: CBS for those playing at home, here for those trying to play at work

After the jump, you'll learn more about the first day then you'll ever want or need to know.

For those looking for last minute bracket picks, don't look at me. I'm terrible at the brackets. Instead, I'll offer a few teams and players to watch during day one.

Let's start with the most important part: the schedule. If you haven't seen it yet, there's a handy widget with the tournament schedule on the CougCenter sidebar. In addition, CBS has generously provided the announcer pairings and network coverage map here. I'm a fan of announcers during the NCAA tournament, so listed below are the specifics:

Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner
9:20 am: #7 BYU vs. #10 Florida
11:40 am: #2 Kansas State vs. #15 North Texas
4:10 pm: #8 Northern Iowa vs. #9 UNLV
6:30 pm: #1 Kansas vs. #16 Lehigh

Dan Bonner played at the University of Virginia. Just throwing that out there.

Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas
9:25 am: #6 Notre Dame vs. #11 Old Dominion
11:45 am: #3 Baylor vs. #14 Sam Houston State
4:15 pm: #1 Kentucky vs. #16 ETSU
6:35 pm: #8 Texas vs. #9 Wake Forest

DO. NOT. WANT.

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery
9:30 am: #2 Villanova vs. #15 Robert Morris
11:50 am: #7 Richmond vs. #10 St. Mary’s
4:25 pm: #3 Georgetown vs. #14 Ohio
6:45 pm: #6 Tennessee vs. #11 San Diego State

Lundquist and Raftery are the pair to watch. Raftery, of "onions" and "da kiiiisss" fame, manages to steal the show come tournament time. He's no Gus Johnson, but it beats watching Enberg and Bilas call a game.

Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel
11:30 am: #4 Vanderbilt vs. #13 Murray State
1:45 pm: #5 Butler vs. #12 UTEP
4:20 pm: #6 Marquette vs. #11 Washington
6:40 pm: #3 New Mexico vs. #14 Montana

I have no clue who either of these two are, but since they're calling the UW-MU game, we'll be getting acquainted with them real soon.

Games to watch:

4:20 pm: #6 Marquette vs. #11 Washington

This one is obvious. Kenpom shows this game as being a coin flip, despite it being a 6-11 matchup. Marquette's kenpom page has some fun things to look at, as well. First, they slow the game down, WAY down. It's not Tony Bennett slow, but 63.8 possessions a game is not what UW wants to do. Additionally, the offense runs through Lazar Hayward, but the player to watch is Jimmy Butler. Butler is posting a ridiculous 129.5 ORtg, while using just over 20% of the teams possessions.

1:45 pm: #5 Butler vs. #12 UTEP

Your obligatory 5-12 matchup with upset potential. Butler and UTEP are evenly matched teams and it should make for a good game. Unfortunately, this game constitutes mid-major on mid-major crime. Thanks selection committee!

11:40 am: #2 Kansas State vs. #15 North Texas

Since Nuss is now the biggest KSU fan in the world, might as well toss this one in here. If KSU doesn't run North Texas out of the gym, I'll be surprised and disappointed.

Players to watch:

Jimmer Fredette, BYU: Besides having a cool name, Fredette is BYU's offensive force. He's coming off of a 45 point game against TCU and a 30 point game in a loss to UNLV in the conference tournament. If BYU is going to make a run, Fredette will probably be the one powering it.

Avery Bradley, Texas: Spent his high school days in Tacoma at Bellarmine Prep before playing his senior year at basketball factory Findlay Prep in Las Vegas. Bradley runs the show for Texas and, being a local (kind of) product, he could be someone to keep an eye on.

Jacob Pullen, KSU: You may remember him from the WSU-KSU game. He scored 21 points in 25 minutes, including going 11-11 from the charity stripe. It's not like I hold a grudge or anything.

For those wondering why this is up so early, the CBI is on tonight! OSU plays Boston University in an exciting matchup that continues the Pac-10 vs. America East Conference rivalry. Good luck finding it on TV, though. HDNET, official carrier of the CBI, chose Colorado State-Morehead State over the OSU-BU game. Apparently, the awesomeness of the Pac-10 TV deal carries over to the postseason.

So, there you go. A day one preview for one of the most wonderful annual sporting events in America. This will serve as your open thread to scream about upsets, amazing shots, or to simply talk about the action throughout the day.

Last chance to enter CougCenter Bracket Challenge

2010-03-18T03:34:30Z

Last chance to enter CougCenter Bracket Challenge

If you're interested in participating, the link above has directions.

Also, can anybody tell me how Texas A&M can beat Duke? I'd really, really like to take the Aggies ... but I can't find a good reason to pick against the Blue Devils. I keep trying to find places to get them out of the tournament, and just can't.