I hope you gave your clean bracket a little time to itself before you went out and defaced it. And your picks are defacing, admit it. You know it and I know. That thing is going to look like a delinquent sophomore's English paper by the time the third round is finished. But before all that, what you have before you is a clean slate; a world of possibility. Are you ... Read More

Yes, it's time to bitch about the seedings. It's an annual rite of passage, and before any of you roll your eyes, the public has just as much of a right to chastise the committee when it does wrong for as frequently as it does right. And it often does right. More times than not. But not this year. Where do I begin? One by one, I'm going to roast the ... Read More

Long-term, did Quinnipiac losing last night help Moore's chances down the road of going to UConn? If he and the Bobcats had won, would he be wooed by many a school in the next six weeks?

Anthony Johnson had a game that transcended March drama, and it came late on a Wednesday night and wasn't an NCAA Tournament performance. That alone should tell you just how special and significant Montana's Johnson's 66-65 comeback against Weber State last night. The Grizzlies got an automatic bid thanks to Johnson scoring two-thirds of the team's points last night. It was an epic comeback, one that had the Twitter world buzzing as ... Read More

You know, I'm not saying we have to fine coaches every time or make them sit out a game, but now we're starting to see a bit of an unwanted pattern with coaches being "punished" by way of a short-but-sweet press release put out via said coach's conference Web site.

Well, the bids have to go somewhere, don't they? We can complain about how weak this bubble is all we want to, but a few of these teams are going to find a way into the field. I'll put up my final bubble picture/predictions Sunday morning. I remind you, this is now how I think the committee is going pick; it's how I think the field should be selected. Makes ... Read More

Tomorrow, as you probably know, is the 20th anniversary of the death of Hank Gathers. To those a few years older than me, Gathers conjures memories (other than his death) of a next-level athlete. To those younger than me (I am approaching 29), Gathers' story is one that hasn't been retold all too often; it isn't as hallowed as Len Bias', but it's just as tragic and scary. Gathers was special ... Read More

Shocking, news-breaking headline for a post, I know, but while Syracuse fans can boast about the team's first top-ranked position since 2003 (and first in-season No. 1 ranking since 1990), there's not much reason to get into a tizzy (I promise not to use this word too much) over what team is ranked where. You most certainly didn't notice, but I stopped posting the AP Poll results here. I asked myself: ... Read More

STORRS, Conn. — With both of these teams a lead is never safe. That's not praise on behalf of their defense; it's a liability due to the offense. I know what I saw was entertaining Sunday afternoon, but I'm not sure how quality-filled it was. Connecticut and Louisville both have terrific athletes, coaches and programs. But their teams just aren't that good. How could you proclaim they are when one team gets out-rebounded ... Read More

Like it or not, we have to get used to the fact that Tournament-expansion conversation is going to be had for the foreseeable future. It'll die down once the season ends, but until 68, 80 or 96 teams are decided upon — or a definitive, long-term decision is made that it won't happen — coaches are going to be approached about the subject on a consistent basis. This is the ... Read More

I'd rather not write a column about officiating, but I think it's high time the Big East zebras were put to task.

We're now entering the final quarter of the college basketball season. Talk of bubbles, dancing, RPI, strength of schedule and Cinderella will soon dominate the conversation (if they haven't begun to already). But there is one storyline of futility that still exists. Alcorn State and Bryant entered last weekend being the only two winless teams in Division I. The Braves finally took care of business, defeating Mississippi Valley State 55-54 at ... Read More

Let's compare two scenarios. First, Kansas' Brady Morningstar's. The Kansas guard was arrested for drunk driving over the summer. He was suspended for an entire semester. Morningstar has turned into more of a contributor than just about anyone thought, but even though Kansas coaches knew the team had serious depth entering the season, the move was the right one. Just because Morningstar was a backup doesn't mean the decision to eliminate him ... Read More

I think we were all ready to get into a tizzy this morning when this story was filed and sent out to the masses. Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News wrote a piece that Nets GM Rod Thorn and Rick Pitino himself have already gone on the record to deny. It's a natural reaction, of course. Even though Louisville is about 20 lengths behind in the Big East race, this is ... Read More

A loss for the small guys. Yep, a mid-major just fell out of the at-large pool. It did it in the most affronting way possible, too. The Wichita State Shockers were doing considerably well this season — second place in the Missouri Valley, a win over conference leader Northern Iowa and a win over Texas Tech as well — before it all went to shit last night in Evansville, Indiana. The then-20-5 Shockers ... Read More

All of us, we all assume too much for the future. I'm as guilty as the guys who are paid the big bucks to write about college basketball for a living. But it's all part of discussion, all part of involving ourselves in the sport we consider our favorite. We can be wrong and it's OK; it's not life or death. Though some fans will forever harbor some embitterment toward a writer ... Read More

You know what I fear? Evan Turner getting jobbed of Player of the Year. It would be criminal. It would be stupid. Barring a serious dip in statistics on his part, there's no reason Turner shouldn't win the award (or take home the majority of them; there are many Player of the Year awards, after all). I've already written quite a bit about the soft-spoken Turner, and now that the national media will turn ... Read More

Country, it's time to get to know one Dominique Jones. South Florida fans have been aware of what the 6-4 junior is a capable of for some time now. But it's getting ridiculous. Jones is on pace to win Player of the Year in the Big East, yet you probably don't know a thing about him outside of his beastly stat lines in the past two weeks. In USF's first winning streak in ... Read More