New York Times: “A No. 16 seed had never beaten a No. 1 seed in the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament.”
Are you watching BCS, FBS, or whatever name you go by today? I know you have your little tournament to decide a National Champion but it’s time to get real. Expand to 16-teams.
What UMBC did to Virginia would be like TCU knocking off Clemson. Think about that for a minute. It’s a big deal.
Bring us a real tournament.
ESPN: “Pelini improved to 67-27 as Nebraska’s coach on Friday with a 37-34 overtime win at Iowa. The victory pushed Pelini’s win total past Tom Osborne for the most ever at the school in a coach’s first seven years.”
Good luck finding a coach to replace nine wins per season.
Jerry Fahrni: “All I have to say is football season is here. Finally! Finally I can listen to sports talk radio again. Finally I can watch grown men try to kill each other on the football field. Finally I get to see Ray Lewis blow up some poor schmuck. Finally I can vent my anger at something besides people. Finally Major League Baseball will slide into obscurity again until next year. Finally football season is here. Holy crap it feels like years since I watched an NFL game.”
What he said.
ESPN: “Only hours after No. 15 seed Norfolk State stunned No. 2 seed Missouri 86-84 in a West Regional game in Omaha, Neb., Lehigh pulled off an equally impressive upset, surprising No. 2 seed Duke 75-70 in Greensboro Coliseum.”
This is why I love sports. Most of the time Goliath crushes David, as expected, but every once in a while we have a day like this. Two number two’s go down in the tournament. It’s a beautiful thing.
Chances are these two teams will win another game on pure momentum. This is exactly why the BCS needs to become a tournament, or be disbanded all together. Tournaments are exciting, anything can, and does, happen.
ESPN: “This is the first time since the BCS expanded to five games that a team outside of the conferences with automatic qualifying bids failed to make a BCS game. No one-loss non-automatic qualifier has ever been selected for a BCS game, either.”
Ahhhh, some dissent, finally. It’s time for the NCAA to create a real playoff system. Yes, it can be done, they just don’t want to do it. I’ve personally done bracket after bracket after bracket. It could work. Top 16 are in.
I think it’s time to put together a new bracket.
SI.com: “NEWARK — Such is the state of this NCAA tournament, that I could wake up Friday morning in New Orleans thinking there were strong odds Houston’s Final Four would include two No. 1s (Ohio State and Kansas) and a No. 2 (Florida) … and then be in Newark on Sunday night, watching No. 4 Kentucky clinch the last spot — alongside No. 3 UConn, with No. 8 Butler and No. 11 VCU filling out the other half. I was stunned to witness the Bulldogs’ second straight Final Four-clinching win, and am still stunned when I see the teams printed on this bracket t-shirt.”
The BCS still believes its system is flawless. Witness the NCAA National Basketball Championship Tournament, it’s not perfect, but it’s still better than anything the College Football boys have put together.
Tournaments can be unpredictable, it’s part of what makes sports beautiful. Is it doable in the football world? Yes, I believe it is. Can you have the Big Four traditional bowl games? Yes, I believe you can. Does the BCS want to give up all that money? No, there in lies the problem. The game is driven by money. The kids don’t make a dime, but the Universities and their affiliates certainly do. Until that problem can be addressed the BCS will remain a very flawed system that pits two supposed greats against each other. Until that problem is addressed we’ll never know who the true National Champion is in NCAA Football. I’m pulling for Mark Cuban. I hope he turns College Football on its ear.
As for NCAA Basketball, it’ll be as clear as it can be in two more games.
Sports Illustrated: “What they’re trying to say – ‘We’re protecting the integrity’ – no, you’re not,” Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said. “It’s ruining the integrity. It’s not even football anymore. We should just go out there and play two-hand touch Sunday if we can’t make contact.”
One weekend, one. That’s all it took for the Pansy of an NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, to continue the Tom Bradyfication of professional football. Now the players can’t hit people a certain way. Have you ever played football? Well, I have, and I can assure you it IS NOT a contact sport, ballroom dancing is a contact sport, basketball is a contact sport, football is a collision sport, and if you can’t handle the physicality of the sport you should get out. Two of the three hits on Sunday were pretty serious, and should be penalized, and the players fined. The third however, I don’t know about that. I’m talking about the hit to DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles. Was the hit violent? Yes, it was. Was it illegal, no, I don’t believe so. While the tacklers head was down he was clearly offset. He made contact with his right shoulder into the chest of DeSean Jackson. Do you think his head isn’t going to eventually collide with something? Sure it is. Ok, ok, so he was defenseless. I’ll agree with that, but you shouldn’t fine Dunta Robinson. He’s a football player. You’re taught at a young age to knock the snot bubbles out of people, do you think a player can just turn that off? No.
Pretty soon they will be playing flag football, and who wants to watch that? I certainly don’t. I like American Football. It’s a great sport. Hits like this are rare, and are going to happen, but you can’t stop it. Not even with rule changes.