Saturday, November 22, 2008

Weekly Thoughts, Predictions and Rivalry Trophies

This week is a very interesting and unique week when it comes to the college football season. This week kicks off a lot of the big time rivalry games. The great things about rivalry games are the incredible stupid names and trophies involved with them. So today, we will go through some of the better ones that are up for grabs this weekend.

THE BATTLE OF THE LAND GRANTS
Michigan State @ Penn State 3:30 pm ABC
This great rivalry dates all the way back to 1993, when Penn State joined the Big Ten. The Big Ten leads all other conferences in bizarre trophy games and wanted to make Penn State fit in as a new member so they completely forced this rivalry and made up this stupid title and trophy. These two schools were such fierce rivals before Penn State joined the Big Ten that they had not faced each other since Joe Paterno’s first season as head coach in 1966.
WINNER: Penn State

BIG GAME
Stanford @ Cal 3:30 pm ABC
This rivalry is best known for “The Play.”
In all honesty, though it is difficult to see how Cal could hate Stanford. The Stanford mascot is a tree and Cal students are almost all exclusively tree-huggers. And to top it off, this game is played for The Stanford Axe. Stanford has won this game last year and a total 55 times to 44 losses as this series dates back to 1892.
WINNER: Cal



BORDER WAR
Colorado State @ Wyoming 2:00 pm The Mountain Network
This is the lesser of the known Border Wars, the other will be played next week between Missouri and Kansas. This game dates back to 1899 and Colorado State leads the all-time series 54-40 and should add to that this year. The winner of this game takes home the Bronze Boot.
WINNER: Colorado State

FLOYD OF ROSEDALE
Iowa @ Minnesota 7:00 pm The Big Ten Network
These two schools have not had the greatest football success in history; maybe one of their problems is that their biggest goal every year is to win a golden pig. Hey, when you set your expectations low you tend to reach them more often, right? The trophy or idea of a trophy originated in 1935 when the states two governors bet each other on the games outcome. Minnesota won that game and the Minnesota Governor was presented with a full-blooded champion pig. They have since wised up and just bronzed a pig and pass that around now. It is much easier up keep.
WINNER: Iowa

HOLY WAR
BYU @ Utah 6:00 pm The Mountain Network
Urban Meyer, former Utah coach said last year when asked about The Holy War that he has never been involved with anything so intense his entire life. This game dates back to 1896 when BYU was actually BYA (Brigham Young Academy). Utah leads the all-time series 53-33-4. This rivalry has heated up even more recently with both teams stepping to the forefront of non-BCS schools and this game almost always now has BCS implications riding on it. Ten of the last 11 games have been decided by 7 points or less with each team winning five of those ten games. There is no trophy involved in this one, just state bragging rights for one year.
WINNER: Utah

OLD OAKEN BUCKET
Indiana @ Purdue NOON ESPN2
The battle between state rivals Indiana and Purdue normally have nothing on the line this late in the season except bragging rights. The two schools have been playing since 1897, but the Old Oaken bucket was not introduced until 1925. Since then Purdue has won the bucket 54 times.
WINNER: Purdue



SWEET SIOUX TOMAHAWK
Northwestern @ Illinois 3:30
This is the last game for the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk as the two schools agreed to retire the trophy after this season due to what I am guessing some yanko that complained that it was not politically correct. It is not as if they are scalping each other after the games with it or anything. It is a damn trophy. Illinois leads the all-time series 52-44-5, but the trophy has only been involved since 1945. Illinois has gone 33-28-2 when the trophy is on the line.
WINNER: Illinois

The Game
Michigan @ the Ohio State University NOON ABC
This game has been for at least a portion of the Big Ten Title many times in the past, not this year. Although Ohio State can win a portion with a victory, Michigan lost that chance about week 4. Michigan has dominated the all-time series between these two going 57-41-6. However, Ohio State has owned Michigan recently. Michigan last beat Ohio State 1664 days ago. The series started in 1897 and there is no trophy on the line. On both schools websites when talking about the series they say the only thing on the line is pride.
WINNER: the Ohio State University

RIVER CITY RIVALRY
Pitt @ Cincinnati 7:00 pm ESPN 2
This is a bunch of bull if you ask me. The Big East was in need of desperate help when the ACC raid ended and needed to create rivalries with the new conference members, so they threw this one together. Yes, both teams are on the Ohio River, so I guess that works, but really? Come on. The two schools have played SEVEN times. How can that be a rivalry? And better yet, Pitt has never lost. This year’s game is a big game with the Big East Championship on the line for both teams. If Cincy wins all they have to do is beat Syracuse at home next week. If Pitt wins, they are in the drivers seat to win the title, but still have WVU and UCONN to go.
WINNER: Pitt

And now for the game of all games…

THE APPLE CUP
Washington @ Washington State 3:30
This game could set football back 50+ years. These are arguably the two worst teams in division 1 football right now. Washington comes into this game 0-10 and Washington State enters 1-10 with their only win coming against Portland State, a 1AA team. The NCAA keeps team stats in 17 different categories for the 119 D1 teams. The best Washington ranks in any of those 17 categories is 83rd in pass defense. They rank 100th or worse in 15 of the 17 categories. Washington State has its own problems. The Cougars have been shut out 3 of the last 4 games and rank 115 in rush offense, 104 in pass offense, 118 in total offense and 118 in scoring. Thank God that this game is not being televised anywhere.WINNER: Washington

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

College Hoops Have Begun!

The 23 hours of college basketball ESPN had to tip off the season just ended and boy what a great start we had.

It started with Memphis, runner-ups last year, taking it to UMASS. We then saw the next small school phenom in Patty Mills at St. Mary’s in California, that kid is something special. That was followed by an OT game in Hawaii.

Tonight we saw UNC put on a show against Kentucky for the first ten minutes. I could not decide if UNC was that talented or Kentucky was that bad (they did lose at home to VMI already). The verdict came in that UNC was not that good and Kentucky was not THAT bad, as UNC basically kept that lead the rest of the game. I will say this though if Kentucky can go .500 this season Billy Gillispie should be inducted to the basketball hall of fame immediately. How Kentucky can have so little talent stuns me. It is Kentucky! That team is just BAD!

After that game got out of hand, I turned on ESPN2 to watch my man Stephen Curry drop 44 on Oklahoma in a losing effort. Blake Griffin had a monster game for OU with 25 points and 21 rebounds. But seriously 44 points? The kid is amazing. Granted he took 43 shots and was getting double and triple teamed at times, but he scored 44 points. You just do not see that often in a regulation college game. The best part about it was that the Oklahoma students were trying to be clever and started chanting “One Man Team” (clap clap…clap clap clap). Yeah he is a one-man team and your team STILL could not stop him.

That is all for now. Wow do I love college hoops!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

T3R - Week 5

Not much change in the rankings after a rather dull week in college football last week that included lots of blowouts and no upsets. That just gets everyone ready for a big weekend this week. Last week we had some high-ranking teams struggle to get up for lesser opponents before putting them away with easy in the second half. Alabama, Penn State and USC all looked a little sluggish out of the gates last week, but used halftime to turn things around and dominated the second half of their games. This week we have some big match-ups with lots of big bowl and conference championship implications on the line. Last week we had one match up of ranked teams (Florida destroyed South Carolina) this week we have four. And all four have conference championship ties to them as well. But back to last week…

#1 FLORIDA GATORS (9-1)
LAST WEEK: 56-6 win vs South Carolina
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs The Citadel
Since losing to Ole Miss the Gators have outscored their opponents 101-0 in the first quarter of games. All of those games were against SEC teams too. The Gators are rolling right now and I do not see anyone stopping them. Not the Citadel this week, Florida State next week or Alabama in the SEC title game.

#2 TEXAS TECH RED RADIERS (10-0)
LAST WEEK: OFF
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ #4 Oklahoma
The Red Raiders were coming off two highly emotional home victories into their bye week last week. Now they have to go on the road for their last big test in the Big XII South, playing in Norman against Oklahoma. Texas Tech beat then #4 ranked OU last year in Lubbock and controlled the entire game. Now they have to do that on the road. The Red Raiders have not beaten OU in Norman since 1996.

#3 TEXAS LONGHORNS (10-1)
LAST WEEK: 35-7 win @ Kansas
NEXT WEEK: OFF
The Longhorns have one game remaining on their own schedule, but they have lots of other games they will be interested in over the next two or three weeks. Texas probably has no chance of winning the Big XII South due to the tiebreaker system that uses the current BCS Rankings. Most likely the winner of the TT-OU game will win the South, however the Longhorns are sitting pretty to slide into the National Title game if upsets occur in the last few weeks of the season.

#4 OKLAHOMA SOONERS (9-1)
LAST WEEK: OFF
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs #2 Texas Tech
Last season, 52 weeks ago, Oklahoma ranked number four in the country with Texas Tech next on the schedule, they lost. This season, 52 weeks later OU is ranked number four in the country and Texas Tech is next on the schedule. The only differences this season is that the Sooners are at home and that this time something is at stake. Last year OU still went on to the Big XII Championship game. This season a chance to go back to that game and possibly a national title game after is on the line. Under Bob Stoops, the Sooners have lost twice at home, once to rival Oklahoma State in 2001 and the other time to start the season against TCU in 2005. Bottom line is the Sooners do not lose much in Norman. This game should be fun.

#5 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (11-0)
LAST WEEK: 32-7 win vs Mississippi State
NEXT WEEK: OFF
I say it repeatedly with this team. They just win. They do nothing pretty, but they always win. Bama struggled at home against Mississippi State last week, a team that had beaten them the past two meetings, but it never looked like they would lose. The Alabama defense is tough, but that offense is going to have to add some spark if they want to play on the same field as Florida in the SEC title game.

#6 SOUTHERN CAL TROJANS (9-1)
LAST WEEK: 45-23 win vs Stanford
NEXT WEEK: OFF
It looked like Déjà vu all over again. Stanford playing with USC, what is going on? Then the Trojans defense arrived in Northern California and shut down the Cardinal. The vaunted USC defense looked like a peewee team out there for the first half as Toby Gerhart and the Stanford offense marched up and down the field. USC allowed two touchdown drives of 65+ yards in the first half, but shut the door in the second half. The Cardinal were forced to punt their first five possessions of the 2nd half and only scored on a 44 yard Hail Mary pass to end the game.

#7 UTAH UTES (11-0)
LAST WEEK: 63-14 win @ San Diego State
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs BYU
The Holy War will be played this week with a lot at stake. The Utes certainly did not look past San Diego State last week as some thought they might. They sent a message with a dominant performance. Utah controls it’s BCS destiny, if they win out they will almost certainly be the highest ranked non-BCS conference team, which assures them a BCS bowl game. BYU would like nothing more then to knock off their archrival and possibly jump into that BCS bowl themselves.

#8 MISSOURI TIGERS (9-2)
LAST WEEK: 52-20 win @ Iowa State
NEXT WEEK: OFF
Missouri punched its ticket to the Big XII Championship game last week defeating Iowa State with ease. Winning the Big XII North was the easy part; the Tigers have not lost to a North team the past two seasons. Now though the Tigers have to wait and see whom they will match up against in the title game. The three possibilities are the Oklahoma (Mizzou’s only 2 loses last year), Texas Tech (has averaged 50+ ppg vs the North this season) or Texas (already beat Mizzou once this season 56-31).

#9 BOISE STATE BRONCOS (10-0)
LAST WEEK: 45-10 win @ Idaho
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ Nevada
Idaho scored on their first play from scrimmage last week against the Broncos, and then it was all down hill. Boise State is 58-4 all-time in the WAC conference and look to add one more W this weekend. The good thing about this game for Nevada is they can score with Boise State; they lead the conference with 38.5 ppg. The bad thing is that they cannot defend like Boise State. They also allow over 30 ppg. The Broncos allow 10.

#10 the OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BUCKEYES (9-2)
LAST WEEK: 30-20 win @ Illinois
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs Michigan
Terrelle Pryor has been all that was advertised as a high school super star. He now gets a chance to go up against a guy that almost became his head coach. Pryor gets his first tOSU-Michigan experience this week and squares off with Rich Rodriguez who, I believe, had he stayed at WVU would be coaching Pryor in Morgantown this year. Lucky for the Buckeyes RichRod took over at Michigan and The Sweater got his QB for the future.

#11 OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (9-2)
LAST WEEK: 30-17 win @ Colorado
NEXT WEEK: OFF

#12 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (10-1)
LAST WEEK: 34-7 win vs Indiana
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs #14 Michigan State

#13 GEORGIA BULLDOGS (9-2)
LAST WEEK: 17-13 win @ Auburn
NEXT WEEK: OFF

#14 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (9-2)
LAST WEEK: OFF
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ #12 Penn State

#15 CINCINNATI BEARCATS (8-2)
LAST WEEK: 28-20 win @ Louisville
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs #17 Pitt

#16 BALL STATE CARDINALS (10-0)
LAST WEEK: 31-16 win @ Miami OH
NEXT WEEK: Nov 19th @ Central Michigan

#17 PITT PANTHERS (7-2)
LAST WEEK: OFF
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ #15 Cincinnati

#18 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (7-3)
LAST WEEK: 27-17 win @ Florida State
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ Wake Forest

#19 IOWA HAWKEYES (7-4)
LAST WEEK: 22-17 win vs Purdue
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd @ Minnesota

#20 MARYLAND TERRAPINS (7-3)
LAST WEEK: 17-15 win vs North Carolina
NEXT WEEK: Nov 22nd vs Florida State

Monday, November 17, 2008

COLLEGE BASKETBALL IS HERE!!!!!

To kickoff the College Basketball season, we at The Rant are counting down the Reasons We Are Looking Forward to the Start of College Hoops Season. I say we because this basketball season my friend and most biased Pitt fan I know, Jason Dugan, will join me occasionally on The Rant. He threw out this idea to me and I picked it up and ran with it. Jason wanted to guest blog about what he is looking forward about so I got his listed and added some thoughts of my own. Enjoy!

Jason’s List:

20.) No more Billy Packer.
I cannot say enough about how excited I am now that Billy Packer is off the air. He started his broadcasting career before Magic Johnson beginning his career at Michigan St.... think about that for a minute. Magic Johnson has been out of the NBA for 20 years and out of college for 30 years. The game has changed so much in both of those time frames and yet Packer was still voicing his belief that the dunk should not be legal, dribbling between the legs was showboating, What? The final straw for me as a fan was during the National Championship game last year between Memphis and Kansas. When the OT was about to start Packer made this statement... "Kansas has the edge when it comes to playing in a National Championship Overtime game. The 1952 NCAA final game went to OT and Kansas won with Wilt Chamberlain." Why would a team made up of no player over the age of 23 have experience winning an OT game because their school did 56 years earlier? Bye Bye Billy.

19.) 3 days after the Steelers season ends, the local media will acknowledge the existence of a Pitt Basketball team.
This is an odd phenomenon, every season it is the same thing - the Steelers rule and that is that. Last season Pitt has arguably the biggest win of the program's history when it beat Duke in OT at Madison Square Garden. It just so happened that the Steelers were playing a meaningless game on the same night on the NFL network, and although the Steelers won despite a season ending injury to their running back, the cover of the Post Gazette sports section the next day was covered with Steelers info with a by the way Pitt beat Duke. As soon as Pitt loses a game or their season ends there are 3 to 4 writers trying to tell us what Pitt needs to do better next season or in the future overall to succeed. Really Smizik, does Pitt need to prepare more for the NCAA tournament more than the Big East tournament? Get a haircut and shut up.

18.) Every week there will be 6 days of anticipation and skepticism about where Pitt stands in the ESPN power rankings, then 1 full day of being pissed off and feeling as if Pitt was screwed.
I am ultimately a fan of college basketball, but admittedly am also a bit of a homer when it comes to Pitt. I feel like they are not given the respect and attention that they have earned in the National media. So, every week when the power ranking come out on ESPN.com I find a reason to hate one of the panelists that vote on those rankings. I will fire off an email or 15 with no more than minor threats, and sometimes outlandish statements, but ultimately if a member of the National media is thinking about Pitt, if for no other reason than they know I will send a strange email, then at least they are thinking about Pitt... And my sanity remains intact.

17.) Erin Andrews on the Saturday Gameday telecasts.
Enough Said. I could go for a few more full body shots however, because if Erin does have a weak spot it is her face.

16.) Sam Young highlights on SportsCenter.
My prediction is that there will be at least five this season, the best of which will be Young attacking and throwing down a thunderous tomahawk over Hasheem Thabeet which will be reminiscent of Julius Page's dunk over Georgetown's Ruben Boumjte Boumjte.

15.) Jim Calhoun looking at at least 3 of his players like he just saw them on Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator.”
It never fails, some UCONN player makes an ill-advised cross court pass, or a foul on a 3 pointer with 1 on the shot clock and Calhoun will do 2 things. 1.) The camera will focus on Calhoun looking like he just read a transcript of a chat between said player offering to bring Vodka and fireworks to a 12 year old boy’s house, with a picture of his little husky. 2.) He will be on the bench within seconds.

14.) Doug Gottlieb's ridiculously idiotic blogs on ESPN.com.
I would not be surprised if he is stabbed while calling a Siena vs Vermont game in mid February because on one of his blogs he makes a statement along the lines of. Vermont would have been better off if Tom Brennan and Taylor Coppenrath never came through Vermont because of their hatred of Maple Syrup. Because both Brennan and Coppenrath, although mediocre as a player and as an analyst, both are much better overall the Gottlieb in either playing or broadcasting. I have come to accept that Gottlieb is Mark Madden without the weight and overall lack of athleticism.

13.) Bracketology.
Joe Lunardi's weekly predictions about who will be seeded where when the dance begins. No explanation necessary other than I am completely amazed and impressed with the accuracy in which he predicts these seeds. One questions does arise however. When does the NCAA completely abandon the selection committee and just let Lunardi do it by himself?

12.) The first mention of how "difficult" the zone defense of Syracuse is.
That is one tough zone. Bullshit. Last season the vaunted Syracuse Zone Defense implemented by the crybaby, genius Jim Boeheim gave up an average of 81 ppg over 32 games. Although the overall defense improved a bit in their 19 game Big East conference games to 72 ppg, that isn't really that impressive when you consider Syracuse non-conference schedule last year included the likes of Robert Morris - 81 points, Siena - 87 points, UMASS - 107 points. What, an impressive zone that stops no one?

11.) Jamie Dixon's ridiculous comb over and the first time this season it looks out of place.
Actually I think it would be considered more of a flop over than a comb over because it is so long, he just flops it from the back of his head to the front and uses about a gallon of Aqua Net to hold it in place. Hours upon hours of entertainment watching him do everything possible to not let the big bald spot up top be visible.

10.) Big Monday.
Three games starting at 7pm and ending sometime around 2am, it does not get any better.

9.) The first news of Memphis having players arrested.
Most people would think that since the ultimate Thug 4 Life Joey Dorsey is gone that Memphis might have a team with better character this season. Not True. With Taggert and Dozier each having multiple neck tattoo’s the possibility that 1 or both of them will not be arrested for at least a misdemeanor is about 1 in a million.

8.) Indiana with a completely decimated roster, beating on of the so-called giants of the Big 10.
Big 10 basketball sucks. Michigan St bounced Pitt last year yes, but I was not impressed. Indiana now has Tom Crean as their coach and if nothing else he will inspire them to play the right way. I look forward to Indiana beating Illinois specifically because Illini coach Bruce Weber when asked how he felt Indiana would do this season said, "They will suck." What a classless statement by a classless ass.

7.) News that Lute Olsens 1st ex-wife marries former assistant Kevin O'Neil as a way of getting back at Lute for screwing him out of the head coaching job at Arizona.
This dream scenario is quickly followed by news that the same woman stabbed O’Neil as Olsen laughs in whatever institution he is "voluntarily" currently residing at. I vote that there should be a daily log of everything that Lute Olsen, his crazy ass ex-wife and Kevin O'Neil do on a day-to-day basis. Does Lute Olsen consider breaking off his current engagement so that he can be engaged to a chair in the corner of the room? Does his crazy ass ex-wife hide in her yard like Rambo waiting to ambush the mailman? Does Kevin O'Neil have a picture of Lute Olsen on his dart board?

6.) The Big East Conference Tournament.
5 days. 16 teams. Everyone has a shot. This is like Russian roulette for teams like South Florida, and Rutgers. Could they make a move and possibly earn a berth, or do they end up like Christopher Walken in Deer Hunter and shoot themselves in the head with a stupid grin on their faces?

5.) The downfall of UCLA's final four run.
O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D. Josh Shipp, Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya. Kevin Love was not a marquee player despite what everyone said. He was like that guy that everyone knew at the playground, 15 years old playing pickup with the 10 & 12 year olds. He was a lot bigger, but not quicker or that much better. If he was your marquee player and now he is gone how do you expect to succeed with 2 so-so players as your glue, and a 3rd that is named Alfred and is African royalty. By the way being African royalty is kind if like winning a gold medal at the Special Olympics, it is considered quite an honor and accomplishment in certain circles, but for the most part nobody cares because it is not real anyway.

4.) Gus Johnson.
He should be required to announce no less than 6 games a week. I watched the Slamball championship 2 weeks ago on CBS and Gus Johnson called it. I can almost guarantee that he was made aware of Slamball a week before the broadcast via email, and the way he called that game I was really into it and cared who won. This is despite the fact that slamball is basketball with trampolines and is played in a cage. If Gus Johnson can make me interested in slamball then I cannot wait to hear him call a big game on CBS in late January.

3.) Dick Vitale.
He is completely annoying and afraid to make a critical comment about anything specific. Although Dick Vitale annoys me more than anything else in College Basketball, I absolutely love his enthusiasm for the game. I could do without his constant plugs for donations and his name dropping stories about who he had lunch with and who called him, come on. Just once I would love to hear him be critical of a bad decision by a coach or a player, he always speaks in generalities. What coaches do theses days is blah blah blah. Players today do not have the basics blah blah blah. Hey Dickie V., please start being a DICK and you will win back a lot of fans my age that at one point loved you and your commentary, but now consider you not a part of ESPN, but a consultant for Pitino, Izzo, Calipari & Coach K.

2.) March 19th - 22nd.
The 1st four days of the NCAA tournament. 64 teams. 48 games. 60 beers. BRING IT!

1.) My trip to Detroit for the Final Four where Pitt will be as well.
In 2003, when the Final Four was held in New Orleans, we had made almost all of the arrangements to make the drive to the Bayou for the Final Four. The plans included getting as drunk as possible and potentially sleeping in a van for the duration of the trip. We had thought Pitt was going to easily make it there after Indiana beat Duke and Pitt was playing Kent State to get to the Elite 8. Although Pitt lost the only things I have looked forward to more in the last 5 years have been my wedding and the birth of my son. Do not worry Brady, daddy will pack his Kevlar and have a pre-scheduled emergency room visit planned to pump my stomach after I do 15 Car Bombs to celebrate the first National Championship for Pitt in my lifetime.

I love College Basketball.




My List:

Before I start my list, I would like to point out that, even though Jason claims to love basketball, he did turn down tickets to the Pitt game tonight, and that is just inexcusable if you ask me.

10.) Gus Johnson
For all the reasons that Jason listed, I can’t stand the guy. Okay, I get the idea that he is enthusiastic about the game but really, who cares who wins the Belmont-Lipscomb game (they play January 12th and again on February 12th if you were wondering)? If you get a good game to call then great, sell it. But don’t force me to believe two teams playing that won’t mean a thing in March is somehow relevant to the rest of the basketball world.

9.) The Cameron Crazies and their unbelievably clever and hilarious chants
Really, does anyone compare to the Crazies? Here is a Duke chat forum of some of the best. LINK

8.) Watching Pitt win in Morgantown
That will be on January 25th this season. I always enjoy watching WVU fans lose because that university is all most of them have in life. You take that away all they have is their dog, pick-up truck and sister all staying in a 1-bedroom shed. It makes it even better when they lose to Pitt and a couple thousand Pitt fans are there to rub their faces in it.

7.) The Big East Conference
Never have we seen a better conference in college basketball than what the Big East has put together this season. They look to be a lock in shattering their own record of sending eight teams into the NCAA tournament this March. Think about this, three teams in the preseason top 5. Four in the top 10 and seven in the top 25. They have become in basketball what the SEC is in football, only better.

6.) Billy Packer
Not for the reasons that Jason had mentioned but how about for his blatant disrespect for anyone and anything not Billy Packer. How this man held his job for so long amazes me, especially since he was not even that good at it. Here are just a few of the incredibly terrible and offensive comments Packer has made over the years:
· He called Allen Iverson, “a tough little monkey.”
· In 2000, at Duke when a female student asked to see his press pass, he replied, “Since when do we let women control who gets into a men’s basketball game? Why don’t you find a women’s game to let people into?”

5.) Indiana Hoosier warm-up pants
Nothing says tradition like the circus tent looking striped pants of the Indiana Hoosiers. For any coach to be able to recruit players and have them agree to wear these in public would be an accomplishment in most places, but not at Indiana. It is a privilege in the Hoosier state and a great tradition.

4.) Stephen Curry
Being a scrawny guard that hated going inside and wanted to shoot from the outside all day long, how could I not love everything about Stephen Curry? This guy does it all on the basketball court and does it all for a small school in a no-name conference. It is a shame that nobody in the national media will pay attention to him or his game until March, and just like last year they will fall in love with him all over again.

3.) The Maui Invitational
Is there any better way of starting off the season? Honestly I don’t even think games should be televised until the Maui Invite starts. That should be the start to college hoops on TV every year. Every year they get the top teams playing in what usually are some of the best non-conference games of the year. This year for example, North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana, Texas, Notre Dame, St. Joe’s, Oregon and as always the host Chaminade.

2.) Day 1 of the Big Dance at the Dugan’s
Brackets are in, beer is on ice the ball is about to go up, let the prop bets begin! Sitting down with big-time hoop fans watching every game of the day. The only thing better….

1.) Championship Saturday in Manhattan
There is no better feeling then walking around Time Square or Chinatown or the ESPN Zone or the Blarney Rock wearing your Pitt gear knowing that the Panthers will be playing for the Big East Title later that night, AGAIN. There are very few things in life that are certainties, Pitt playing in the finals of the Big East Tournament in March at Madison Square Garden is becoming one.


Enjoy the season, I know we will.