Cat fight

Ok, since you are all dying to know, I will answer my own question. There are eight D1 schools nicknamed "Wildcats."

Interestingly enough, all eight have at least a SHOT to dance. Villanova and Davidson are locks. Kentucky is looking good. Kansas State and Arizona are solid bubble teams. Weber State and Bethune-Cookman are first and second in their conferences respectively and should be strong candidates to win their conference's automatic bid.

Leaving only?? You guessed it, tourney virgin Northwestern University.

Can the 'Cats give us a late run? Um...those ones.

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Steady as we go...

It is that time of year where the daily "who's in - who's out" columns and prognostications begin. Personally, I love it. As a fellow hoops junkie, I am sure you do too. However, there are three teams written off on most "mock tourneys" to keep aware of in the final four weeks of regular season hoops.

1. Georgetown (13-9, 4-7) - Ironic, as I labeled them one of the nation's most "overrated" teams three weeks ago (I was right on all but 'Nova). However, assuming they win the three games they SHOULD (USF, DePaul and St. Johns) that gets them to 7-7 in the Big East. Their remaining four games are as follows:

@ Syracuse 2/14
Marquette 2/21
Louisville 2/23
@ Villanova 2/28

Should the split those four; they will finish the regular season 18-11, 9-9. They will have wins over UConn, Memphis, Syracuse (plus two of the above four), and not a single "bad" loss, unless you want to count Notre Dame (and I guess you probably can...)

The bookend losses to Cincinnati puts them in a precarious spot, but with Providence slipping an 8th Big East slot is up for grabs and the 9th, should the BEast earn it, is ripe for the Hoyas picking.

Besides, with that resume, I find it hard to believe the Georgetown ends up kNITing.

2. Penn State - Right now, they are just on the outside looking in, but the Dance Card is there for the punching. At 17-7, without a real non-conference win they need to take three of their five remaining "biggies" and scoop up the suddenly-not-automatic wins over Iowa and Indiana to have a legit shot. The five biggies are home/home with Illinois, Minnesota at home and trips to Ohio State and Purdue. The journey begins tonight in Lafayette, a tough place to win, but they do get the Boilers without Robbie Hummel (back) in a game that provides some backbone to a truly flimsy bubble case.

3. Kansas State - After their 0-5 start in conference, the Wildcats were completely written off; even as NIT possibilities. Now, they are one of the hottest teams in the nation. Their remaining schedule is fullof winnable games, with only a visit from Kansas and a trip to Missouri games they won't be favored in. Even if they drop those two, if they handle their business elsewhere they will finish at (22-9, 10-6) with wins over Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M bolstering their case. Plus the committee loves a "hot team." and the Wildcats certainly fit the bill.

It also makes for a really interesting possibility of having FIVE teams in the tourney nicknamed "Wildcats." Can we find a sixth perhaps???

Has that ever happened before? Someone who gets laid very rarely will have to research that one in between porn downloads...

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As Good As It Gets.

Call me crazy, but I am leaning towards the Dookies tonight. The lasting impression of them is Kyle Singler clanging free throws while they jogged up and down the court getting flat-out emasculated by Clemson. And for the breadth of our readers, emasculated means "getting treated like a little bitch." Or "punked, bullied" - you pick your adjective.

That said, if you put a gun to my head four weeks ago and told me to pick the toughest team in the country, I would have picked Duke. I like Oklahoma, I like Louisville and though I do NOT like Pitt, you can't say they aren't tough. And I would have still chosen Duke.

Tonight, we find out.

John Scheyer has been AWOL the past few weeks, and it has showed in losses to Wake and Clemson. Kyle Singler had more turnovers than POINTS in the Clemson game. Facing Hansbrough, Green, Ellington and Lawson is not really an answer to get on track offensivly. North Carolina has more defensive talent than anyone in the country and the can run and trap all day.

With all that said; I am picking Duke.

Maybe it is the overflow of bro-mance from Duke Vitale, maybe it is an over abundance of false trust in the resiliancy of Coach K to rebound from two disspointing losses to defend Cameron Indoor, maybe it is a stubborn grudge for a few early-season Tarheel slipups, but I truly think the Blue Devils get it done tonight.

If not, there is a good chance I'll end up deleting this column... just kidding. But a big thanks to our loyal readership for pointing out (frequently) the ineptitude of my picks...

MANIAC'S PICK: Duke 87 UNC 83

Honestly, it doesn't get much better than this...
Enjoy the Game!

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