A Red Letter February Game

When the Red visit the Crimson tonight, there's a good reason to get a little red in the face.  The loser's season might be done.  And for once in this bubble-frenzied college hoops February world, it isn't hyperbole.

Whole the world apparently spun off it's axis today because a robatic Tiger Woods was compelled to tell a nation of strangers he is sorry he used his putter so often outside of the golf course, people who actually like sports could scarcely avoid the coverage.

Did you hear that a Starbucks actually stopped serving during the twenty minute puppet show?  Seriously, I was waiting for Al Cowlings to drive him away in a white Bronco.  I can't be the only one out there who doesn't give two shits about this story, can I?!?  Please, someone back me up on this, because it makes me frightened for the general public that a stranger getting some strange is stop-work news...

Anyhow - there actually is a great sports story unfolding tonight, and it focuses on nothing but great student-athletes competing on the court.  The winner of tonight's Cornell @ Harvard game leaves themselves in line to make the tournament (Cornell buries Harvard with a win, if the Crimson win, things get interesting).  The loser is all but done.  The Ivy league is the only conference without a conference tournament, making tonight's game truly a MUST win.

Much attention focused on Harvard's Asian-American point guard Jeremy Lin, but pay attention to Cornell's seven-foot Foote.  His size and gentle touch around the rim make Cornell more than a cute story, they are a legit club who can win a game (maybe even two...) in the tourney.

Great game tonight, I'm going with the Red laying three on the road taking a huge step towards earning the first bid in the 2010 Tourney.

Maniac's Pick:

Cornell -3

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Firday's Bracket Buster Games - Maniac's Picks

OK, couldn't get anything to work underneath that stupid graphic, so the picks are here in a new post.

Tonight's first game might be the best overall basketball game of the event.  Most people are going to sell you Butler and Siena, because you remember the names from tourney's past.  But the two teams outside of the big leagues aside from Butler and Gonzaga that people haven't seen play that can WIN a game or two in the tourney take stage tonight.

Old Dominion has gone on the road and beaten some big boys already, namely knocking off Georgetown back in December when they were undefeated.  The are 13-3 in a good and balanced Colonial league and in my opinion should be a lock for the tourney.  That said, they are not a lock for the tourney.  Going to Cedar Rapids and beating the ranked Panthers tonight would be huge.

Northern Iowa is on pretty safe footing, having already sewn up the Valley regualr season title and sweeping Wichita State.  The loss last week to Bradley probably knocks them off the 4-5 lines and leaves them hoping for a six and expecting a seven or and eight.  Tonight's win probably keeps them safely in the 6-7 range, so seeding wise, a big game for UNI.

In the late game, William & Mary looked dead a few weeks ago at 8-5 and in fifth place in the CAA.  However, they have run off three in a row to get to 18-7, (11-5) and still own those road wins over Wake and Maryland.  Are they alive for an at-large?  Barely, and admitedly need some good things to happen around them.  Lose tonight and that slim sliver of hope gets solely pinned on the CAA tourney.  Who wins that one is anyone's guess, as the league is deep and balanced (George Mason, Northeastern and VCU also lurk in the mix).

Iona has no shot at an at-large, and here-in lies my gripe with the whole "Bracketbuster" notion.  What does W&M have to gain tonight?  It's nice to play on TV (I'm sure it will pull in huge numbers at 9pm on a Friday night opposite the Olympics and people who have a LIFE on Friday night - Maniac, um, not included....).  Other than that, they have way more to lose than gain.  Sadly, that is the case for a lot of teams in this field (like Siena, Murray State and a few others who gain nothing from the win but are hurt badly by a loss).

On to tonight's picks.  I'm sticking with my favorite conference.  Not just because I am becoming a CAA honk, but because I believe they really do play very good basketball night in and night out.  It is unfortunate that the two teams in that league who need the BB win the most go on the road, but I'm not letting that deter me.

Maniac's Picks:

Old Dominion +3

William & Mary +4

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Bracketbusters 2010

We're Bra-aaack.  (Bam!  Movie reference more dated that last month's ET reference.  Well played Maniac!)  Um, yeah, welcome to Brackbusters 2010.  Might be one of the more misappropriatly titled events, and in my humble opinion hurts more mid-major's with a loss than it does help them by beating...yup, another mid-major!

Regardless, it does make for about a half-dozen fantastic basketball games, starting with tonight's gem, Old Dominion @ Northern Iowa, and the Maniac's pet team, William & Mary travelling to Iona.

The full TV schedule is below, and following that, we'll have some quick picks and game breakdowns & implications.  Enojy!

2010 BracketBusters Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Network(s)
Fri., 2/19	7 p.m.	Old Dominion at No. 22 Northern Iowa	ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com
Fri., 2/20	9 p.m.	William & Mary at Iona	ESPNU
Sat., 2/20	11 a.m.	Siena at No. 15 Butler	ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com
Sat., 2/20	Noon	Morgan State at Murray State	ESPNU
Sat., 2/20	1 p.m.	Louisiana Tech at Northeastern	ESPN2/ ESPN360.com
Sat., 2/20	3 p.m.	Nevada at Missouri State	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
Sat., 2/20	4 p.m.	Akron at Virginia Commonwealth	ESPNU
Sat., 2/20	8 p.m.	Coll. of Charleston at George Mason	ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com
Sat., 2/20	8 p.m.	Western Carolina at Kent State	ESPNU
Sat., 2/20	10 p.m.	New Mexico State at Pacific	ESPNU
Sat., 2/20	11:59 p.m.	Wichita State at Utah State	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com

Big Six All-Conference Teams - One Month to Go

Here's the Maniac's take on the All-Conference races down the stretch.  Conference POY's bolded.

ACC First Team

G - Malcolm Delaney

G - John Scheyer
G - Grevies Vasquez
F - Al-Farouq Aminu
F - Gani Lawal

Second Team

G-Sylvan Landsberg
G - Nolan Smith
F - Kyle Singler
F - Trevor Booker
F - Tracy Smith (NC State)

Big Ten First Team
G - Kalin Lucas
G - E'Twan Moore
G - Demerti McCamey
F - Evan Turner
F - Robbie Hummel

Second Team:

G - Talor Battle
G - Trevon Hughes
F - John Shurna
F - Manny Harris
F - JuJuan Johnson

Big EAST First Team:

G - Scottie Reynolds (Nova)
G - Dominique Jones (USF)
F -Wesley Johnson (Syracuse)
F - Da'Sean Butler (WVU)
F/C - Luke Harangody (ND)

Second Team:

G - Jerome Dyson (UConn)
G - Ashton Gibbs  (Pitt)
G - Jeremy Hazell (Seton)
F - Lazar Haywood (Marq.)
F - Greg Monroe (G'Town)

Big Twelve First Team:

G - Sherron Collins (KU)
G - Jacob Pullen (KSU)
F - James Anderson (OK St)
F - Damion James (Texas)
F - Ekpe Udoh (Baylor)

Second Team:

G - Denis Clemente (KSU)
G - Tweety Carter (Baylor)
G - Lacedarius Dunn (Baylor)
F - Marcus Morris (KU)
C - Cole Alderich (KU)

SEC First Team:

G -John Wall (UK)

G - Devan Downey (USC)
G - Courtney Fortson (Ark)
F -  Patrick Patterson (UK)
C - DeMarcus Cousins (UK)

Second Team:

G - Chris Warren (Miss)
G - Eric Bledsoe (UK)
F - Tasmin Mitchell (LSU)
F - Wayne Chism (Tenn)
C - Jarvis Varnado (Miss St.)

Atlantic 10 First Team:
G - Shamari Spears (Char)

G - Chris Wright (Dayton)
G/F - Jordan Crawford (Xav)
F -  Damian Saunders (Duq)
F - Lavoy Allen (Temple)

Second Team:

G - Kevin Anderson (Richmond)
G -  Ricky Harris (UMass)
G - Ryan Harrs (Temple)
F - Chris Gaston (Fordham)
C - Jason Love (Xav)

Non - BCS All Americans

G - Matt Boldin (Gonzaga)

G - Jimmer Fredette (BYU)
F - Landry Fields (Stanford)
F - Luke Babbit (Nevada)
C - Omar Samhan (St. Mary)

Second Team:

G - Elias Harris (Gonzaga)
G - Elliot Williams (Memphis)
G - Aubrey Coleman (Houston)

F - Artsiom Parakhouski (Radford)
F - Gordon Hayward (Butler)

Yes, I'm aware of the omission.  Dude, it's funny...seriously...

Quick Picks - Feb 17th, 2010

Last night we split, after VA Tech left us one HALF point away from yet another winning night.  The yearly record sits a solid dozen over .500.  It's getting to the point where we get emails if our picks are not posted in a timely fashion!  (you degenerates!)

Here's the quick picks:
Tulsa +4.5 @ Marshall:  This line tells you how much respect Marshall's close losses garnered them in Vegas.  On the surface, this looks like a dummy line.  It isn't, Marshall at home is probably better.  However, 4.5 is a lot for a team that hasn't exactly closed out many good teams this year.  Gimme Tulsa and the points

Duquesne +6 @ Charlotte:  I think the 49'ers are fading out of being the A-10's sixth entrant to the Dance.  Duquesne has had the talent all year, however it took them until about three weeks ago to settle in.  The record stinks, but the team doesn't.  Gimme the Dukes and the 6.

Florida State @ Virginia +1:  I'll take the Cavs at home, the ACC seems to trend towards the home team this year, though Tony Bennett's Cavs are in a bit of a free-fall.


Oklahoma State -2 @ Iowa State:  The Cowboys flat out can not lose tonight and feel good about making the tourney.  I think James Anderson and the Pokes play like it tonight.

Texas +2.5 @ Missouri:  Tonight we find out if the Longhorns have any juice left in the Final Four Contender mojo.  I like them to sneak one on the road tonight and get back on track...though J'Covan Brown needs nto become more of a playmaker if he is going to be their PG in March.

Rhode Island @ St. Louis +3:  Don't look now, but the Billikens are not dead in the NCAA bid frenzy taking place in the A-10.  Tonight's game could not only really damage the Rams sinking profile, but also move St. Louie to 8-3 in conference play.  Rick Majerus is working magic in the Lou. 


Louisianna Tech +12 @ Utah State:  Remember when the Techsters were 19-2 and getting votes in the polls?  Yeah, Vegas neither.  Utah State has surged past them as the class of the WAC, but I like LA Tech to keep it close enough to cover.

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