Realignment

The school year may be over, but that just means its closer to being football season. With all the talk about possible expansion of the Big Ten (which already has 11 teams) I thought it would be interesting to create my own football super conferences. I am sorry to announce for all those Big 12 folks out there I believe in order for this to occur your conference will have to collapse. Ahhh well.

Big 10
Will pick up Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and West Virginia and Cincinnati
With these additions the Big 10 would definitely propel itself into a solid number 2 conference.
Games to look forward to in the new conference
Notre Dame vs Ohio State (Legendary)
Michigan vs West Virginia (Rich Rod Battle)
Michigan vs Nebraska (battle of legendary programs)
2010 Champion Ohio State

SEC
Same teams with the addition of the University of Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Florida State and Miami.
aka the SEC just formed into the best conference ever to be in existence much like the Champions League in European soccer.
Games to look forward to in the new conference
Oklahoma vs Miami (Legendary)
Texas vs Florida (Amazing match up enough said)
Virginia Tech vs Alabama (New rivals albeit one-sided)
2010 Champion Alabama

ACC
To make up for the losses the ACC will pick up Rutgers, UCONN and Syracuse helping extend its reach further in the northeast.
Lets be real this league would not be that interesting.
2010 Champion Georgia Tech (Last season was not enough for them to gain access into the sec but if they keep it up maybe they could switch with under performing uga)

PAC 10
The Pac 10 would pick up Boise State, BYU, Texas Tech, Colorado, and Oklahoma State
Its funny that this set of schools would actually bring a load of credibility to this conference and make for a few more entertaining games.
USC vs Boise State (The new vs the old)
Oregon vs Oklahoma State (Gun slinging battle)
Stanford vs BYU (Can you imagine the stanford band on byu's campus. TRAIN WRECK!)
2010 Champion Boise State (tough decision but they would probably lose the fewest games)

National Championship
Alabama vs Texas
Two teams from the same conference! How would it happen? Alabama would beat Florida in the sec championship final which would allow 1 loss Texas to slide into the championship game AGAIN, because lets be real no one wants to see Ohio State in the championship game.

An Interesting Final 4

There will be one final, final four this coming weekend and the sport is Lacrosse. This Saturday in Baltimore UVA, Duke, Cornell, and Notre Dame meet to see who will take the crown. However, with all that is at stake on the field the game is the last thing people are talking about. The debate between UVA and Duke is more about their past scandals rather than who will win the third meeting this year between these teams.

Everyone is familiar with the Duke "rape" scandal that occurred 4 years ago. Drama swarmed the Duke campus as people were ready to throw the lacrosse team under the bus for their actions. Months later the world found out that the accuser was a crazy liar. Earlier this year she was arrested for attempted murder. Despite their names being cleared and a number of the former players moving on the Duke team still can not escape that label as being a group of rapist.

Just when it seemed like Duke would forever hold the crown as the most hated sports team ever tragedy struck the University of Virginia when a member of the men's lacrosse team decided to take the life of a member of the women's lacrosse team. Unlike in the Duke case and despite the loss both teams decided to continue with their seasons. Last weekend the women were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Northwestern.

With all of the attention on UVA's scandal Duke and its own past has been dug up from the grave. This match Saturday will really test who can bury the demons of their past and leave it all out on the field.

Game Notes
UVA is the number 1 overall seed and only lost one game this season, but the loss came to Duke
Duke is the number 5 overall seed and after a rough start to the season they have only lost one game and that was to UVA in the ACC tournament. Before that loss Duke had not loss to UVA in 5 years.

Photo of the Day: Perfection

At the half the Huskies had the worst half in UConn basketball history since the Auriemma era. The 2nd half the Huskies came back with one of their strongest runs to complete their 2nd flawless season. Before the game even ended the commentators had already put up the Huskies schedule for next season to see what the road to another perfect season would look like.

HATRED!

In less than 48 hours the men's and women's college basketball champions will be crowned. On the men's side there is a David vs Goliath match-up with the Duke Blue Devils facing the Butler Bulldogs. On the women's side there is the much anticipated rematch between #1 and #2 with the Uconn Huskies vs. the Stanford Cardinal. While the storylines are not the same, one thing is true, both finals contain a team that the country loves to hate.
From the time Coach K arrived on Duke's campus and the basketball team started winning games hatred towards the devils came from all directions. People hate them because they win too much, they get too many calls, they get all the media, and people just dont like them. As a former Duke hater myself, I must say what bothered me the most was their unbelievably irritating fans. Now that I have become one myself, I understand even more why people hate Duke so much, they are good, they know it, don't mind showing it and don't care who hates them. Coach K has even gone as far as saying he loves the fact that people hate Duke as it provides his team with more motivation. That is good for his team as on Monday the only people in the WORLD supporting Duke will be nestled in a small place called Durham, North Carolina.
Then there are the Uconn Huskies and their now 77 game winning streak. Why wouldn't anyone hate them, they havent lost a game in 2 YEARS. In those 77 games they have won on average by 30 points and have yet to have a team come within single digits. No one likes a bully that beats up on people smaller than them and never taking on a real challenge. But Uconn beats up on teams its on size, teams in the top 10. So who can they pick on? Right now that team is Stanford and on Tuesday everyone in the world will be cheering for them to bring down the wicked witch of the east. Lucky for the Huskies their coach also loves to be hated.

Photo of the Day: Bad News for Butler

West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins consoles forward Da'Sean Butler after he was injured during the second half against Duke in a men's NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball game Saturday, April 3, 2010, in Indianapolis. It is reported that Butler suffered a torn ACL. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Today in Sports: March 31st

On this day in 1906 The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur collegiate level sports. The IAA would go on to become the esteemed National Collegeiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1910 which is now comprised of 1,281 institutions.

In 1931 one of the era's biggest sports celebrities, Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, died in a fatal plane crash. In his 13 seasons of coaching, Rockne only lost 12 games and led the Fighting Irish to back-to-back undefeated championship seasons. Known affectionally as the Gipper, Rockne was portrayed on the silver screen by future president Ronald Reagan, coining one of the most famous sport's movie lines, "Win one for the Gipper."

In 1973 the world watched him float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, when Muhammed Ali wore a $10,000 robe with "The People's Champion" inscribed on it. Although he was dressed for success, Ali lost the fight to

Ken Norton.

2004 marked the end of an NFL dynasty. NFL owners adopted a 15 yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. This included all gyrating, thrusting, tootsie rollin, moonwalking, backflippin, hand gun shootin, tail spinning and bootie bumping that had given the game extra pizzaz throughout the 90s.

A Sad Jernigan makes for a Happy STANFORD!

The Stanford Women's Basketball Team is going to the Final Four! BUT... boy did they have to sweat it out. While beating their 3 previous opponents by 98 points, the Cardinal won this game by only 2, but in the NCAA tournament surviving and advancing is all that matters. With star center Jayne Appel on the bench after fouling out the Cardinal struggle to maintain a lead over a game Xavier team that was bracing for the tournament's biggest upset. Down 2 twice within the last minute the Card made two quick responses ,one by a Freshman on a running hook shot (Olajuwon style) that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
The real story began, however, in the last 15 seconds of the game when a Xavier SENIOR Dee Dee Jernigan missed not one BUT TWO WIDE OPEN LAYUPS! As I watched the game I could only think that God wanted Stanford to win as both shots sat on the rim before refusing to go in the basket. Then Ty Lawson... excuse me Jeanette Pohlen took the ball coast to coast in 4.4 seconds to lay the ball up and give the cardinal the win with about .1 seconds left to spare.
Maybe it wasn't the prettiest effort ever, but the Cardinal are moving forward. On the other side of the court Dee Dee will remember that play in her nightmares possibly for the rest of her life. And if she forgets anytime soon she need not worry as ESPN will continue to throw her under the bus for the rest of the day.

All Americans

The first team All American team was released yesterday and really there are no surprises. The team was highlighted by 2 freshmen (guess what school they attended) 2 juniors and a senior. The individuals on the team separated themselves from the rest quite early in the season and others really struggled to catch up.

First Team
Demarcus Cousins
John Wall
Wesley Johnson
Scotty Reynolds
Evan Turner

Wall and Cousins are the first set of teammates to be All-Americans since Duke had two back in 2006. Evan turner was only 1 vote shy of being a unanimous decision. Scotty Reynolds beat out others on the second team despite being relatively worthless in the his teams last 5 games of the season.

2nd Team
James Anderson
Sherron Collins
Greivis Vasquez
John Scheyer
Da'Sean Butler

James Anderson finished 6th in voting, but received more votes than Cousins, however, due to position he was relegated to the second team. Vasquez and Scheyer battled for ACC player of the year but were both rewarded with 2nd team All-Americans. This year was also the first year Scheyer made any All team as he was earlier selected to the First-Team All-ACC. Of all the people on these lists Da'Sean Butler is the only player still in the tournament.

3rd Team
Greg Monroe
Cole Aldrich
Damion James
Luke Harangody
Darington Hobson

Photo of the Day: 3 Cheers for the Home Team

Butler Makes 1st Final Four Appearance in Front of a Home Crowd in Indianapolis

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images / March 27, 2010)

Head coach Brad Stevens of the Butler Bulldogs celebrates with teammates after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the west regional final of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Underdogs or Underrated?

All the buzz this year around March Madness has been centered around the major upsets that have happened thus far and the effects that they have had on not only brackets but the increased enthusiasm and interest surrounding this already volatile tournament.

There are some teams that we just expect to be the best, conferences that we presume will dominate year after year, and traditional programs that have a long standing history of success in the month of March. But, the more that this year plays itself out the clearer it becomes that mid-major programs aren't as "mid" as we thought they were and the strength of conference argument that we so easily buy into isn't as strong as we thought either.

At first I was of the belief that it was merely a matter of the Any Given Sunday syndrome in which teams could have their one good day on the court and we would be able to see David vs. Goliath level triumphs. But as basketball has evolved its becoming clear that David has grown a bit and Goliath doesn't tower over him as much as he has in previous years.

The only question for me now is, does this year's madness make a case for or against a tournament expansion?

Bracket Busted.

Well I for one will probably think twice about doing a bracket next year. I mean is there even a point anymore? Was there ever? It might just be more fun to go without a bracket so I can root for the underdog in Ohio over Georgetown without being worried how that will affect my Sweet Sixteen. Not having a bracket might just make the tournament more enjoyable...

My, How the Mighty Have Fallen...

Well there's goes everybody's favorite pick to win the National Championship as Kansas goes down to a spiry Northern Iowa team. As Ali Farokhmanesh drained a three in the last minute, tilted his head back, and roared to the heavens, you could almost feel the landscape of the NCAA Tournament shifting under your feet.

Apparently the idea that there are a couple dominating conferences that were going to run all over the tournament were slightly over-exaggerated to say the least. The Pac-10 and the West Coast Conference have gone 6-0 going into today's games and after seeing the "inferior" talent in those bunches during the season, I don't think anyone predicted that. There were some who stated that no Pac-10 team should have been allowed in the tournament in the first place, and that the so-called "mid-major" conferences would eventually become overwhelmed by the level of talent of their more highly regarded foes. Guess that assumption was wrong...

And what happened to the supposed juggernauts in the Big East and Big 12. I mean I for one assumed (incorrectly) that once these scrappy, battle-tested Big East teams faced the rest of the nation, there would be no way that the other squads could match the play that was shown throughout the regular season. And I also made the assumption that Kansas's combination of talent and experience would just bully teams as they steamrolled their way to the Finals but that also was not meant to be.

Along the same lines, I don't know how any could continue the argument that there is nor parity in Men's college basketball as we have seen favorites like Georgetown, Kansas, and Villanova twice (as they could have easily lost to Robert Morris) get outplayed by supposedly weaker opponents. And I don't really buy the notion that this is just some sort of fluke because this is the principle that these one and done games are based upon.

Each of these games are the Superbowl for these teams, one loss and someone is watching the next game from their living room without a chance to bring the title back to their schools. You don't need to be better than the other team in terms of talent, you just need to outplay them in one game. And that's the magic that it March Madness. When the tournament expands (as it is probably going to after this year) we may have even more of these types of stories, and I for one cannot wait. For now I'll turn my support to Kentucky as it seems that they are the real deal with blowout wins in their first two games, but as we have seen through the first few days of the tournament, you never know.

P.S. Can someone tell me how Texas went from number one in the nation to getting bounced out the first round by another underachiever in Wake Forrest... just asking.

So the Big East isn't "packing"

All this talk about the Big East this and the Big East that and what have we seen from them today, maybe mid-major basketball at best. As mentioned before Georgetown was handled by Ohio. Side note about Ohio, they went 7-9 in their conference. Georgetown just made it to the Big East Championship game. Looks like I should not place such a high value on the big east tournament and instead should give more credit to MAC.
Then there was Notre Dame, who all week had to listen to people warn them about the challenge that was ODU. (SHOUT OUT TO ODU THE HOMETOWN TEAM) What happened, Notre Dame's best player had 4 pts (All worthless and within the last minute of the game).
Then sharpshooting Marquette lost to Washington. Now I love the Pac 10, because I went to Stanford, but Washington! This team won its conference tournament and was still an 11 seed (mid-major territory).
And even though they didn't lose Villanova should be the most embarrassed. OT versus a Robert Morris team that to be honest should have beaten them. Maybe its time for the Big East to change its name to the Little East. I will give them another shot tomorrow with WVU, Pitt, Syracuse (minus Onuaku), and Louisville, but I have very little confidence in them.

Dear NCAA- I'm Done With You

So I am officially throwing away my entire bracket. After a hours of scratching my head and trying to come up with a quality bracket based on what I THOUGHT were solid well-rounded teams, the first day of March Madness has me standing looking at my TV thinking what the fluff just happened here.

Now, I'm all for the underdog and live by the Any Given Sunday mentality, but I also like winning and right now that's looking highly unlikely.

If case you were sleeping under a rock, let's recap the tomfoolery that happened on the hardwood tonight.

• Murray State (13) beat Vanderbilt(4) with a buzzer beater
• Villanova (2) squeaks by Robert Morris (15) in overtime
• BYU (7) and Florida (10) go into double overtime with BYU coming out on to

And the one that has really shocked many college basketball fanatics

• Ohio (14) soundly and succinctly laid the smack down on a dumbfounded Georgetown (3) with a 97 - 83 victory. At one point they even had a 19 point lead over the Hoyos.

Now I'm sitting her watching Washington (11) vs. Marquette game (6) and I honestly have no idea how this is going to turn out with 5 minutes left on the clock. And even if I had a prediction I wouldn't speak it into existence because it would probably be wrong. So thank you NCAA for reminding me of all the reason why I hate to love and love to hate March Madness.

Think Conference Tournaments Don't Mean Much...

People have talked a lot about how conference tournaments don't matter. If they watched any of the games this week, I believe they will change their minds. In each tournament every champion at some point had to claw, scratch and fight their way to the title. In the Big East, West Virginia went to the last second in each of their 3 games. Their best player Butler to travel to get the last shot off against Georgetown. Even more shocking WVU coach Bobby Huggins was damn near in tears after the victory! Tell me that title didn't mean something to that man. In the Big Ten, POTY Evan Turner had to hit a 40 footer then in the next game survive double overtime with his team on his back to win the title. Ask him if he would rather be well rested for the big dance or be a Big Ten title holder. If you are reading this blog I am sure that you saw Demarcus Cousins' last second tap in to send Kentucky to overtime against MSU in the SEC championship game. And the MASSIVE celebration that followed OMG you would have thought the game was over. This celebration from a team picked to possibly win the national championship! Finally the Duke Blue Devils and the ACC Tournament. In a tournament where every other team within the top 5 of the conference was at home, Coach K was as fired up as ever before. Duke has actually won 9 of the last 12 ACC tournaments. O and did I mention that overall number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament Kansas took care of business in the Big 12 title game beating Kansas State 3 times in one year! And you say it doesn't matter, that my friends is a laugher

Breaking News: ACC top Seeds Missing

2, 3, AND 4 are all out of the ACC Tournament. If it were not for the Duke Blue Devils and the PAC 10 Tournament the ACC tournament would be the least cared about tournament this post season.

Number 1 seeded Duke was able to hold off a valiant effort by a Landesbergless UVA team with the help of a clutch second half from Kyle Singler. For much of the game, however, the Blue Devils were sloppy and looked as if they would be leaving Greensboro empty handed. But in the tournament all that matters is surviving and advancing and that is exactly what Duke was able to do unlike the others.

Second seeded Maryland and their unruly fans can now return to College Park as the Terrapins lost to the 7th seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. GT was in desperate need of that victory in order to remove themselves from the bubble and put them into tournament. ACC Player of the Year (cough wrong decision) Vasquez had an atrocious game and was fittingly stripped of the ball as he went for the game tying three pointer.

Third seeded Florida State did not play much better than Maryland and because of that they went down to NC State. NC State the 11th seed won only 5 games during all of the ACC regular season, but has now won back to back games ACC games. After this HORRIBLE loss Florida State is now going to have to take a seat back on the bubble. Worst of all, us tourney viewers must now see that God awful red jacket of Sidney Lowe again.

Finally, fourth seeded Virginia Tech collapsed late in their game. As a Virginian I hoped for a much better performance out of the Hokies, but it was not to be as they lost to 12th seeded Miami for the second time this season. Now the perennial bubble team will have to sit and wait once again to find out their tournament fate.

Tomorrow's Semifinals

1 Duke vs 12 Miami and 7 Georgia Tech vs 11 N.C. State

Lucky for scalpers they still have 2 state schools in the field or else they would be taking an L on those tickets.

A Merciful End to the Season for the Legends

Conference Tournaments are far from over and Selection Sunday is more than 36 hours away, yet for some LEGENDARY programs the season has come to an end. What programs am I speaking of you ask? The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Tarheels, The University of Arizona Wildcats, the University of California Los Angeles Bruins and the Indiana University Hoosiers.

UNC - For UNC, the season started with very high expectations and wins over some top programs (i.e. Michigan State and Ohio State) had people claiming that the tarheels had reloaded and would find themselves back in the Final Four. However, the Tarheels finished the season losing 13 of their last 18 games to finish the season 16-16. One of those losses was an astounding 32 point loss to Duke that was UNC's second worst loss ever to Duke.

Arizona - Arizona has struggled a ton over the last 5 years. Coaching issues have caused many of their problems. The departure of legendary coach Lute Olsen and the drama that followed could not have helped recruiting. While the Wildcats were able to finish the PAC-10 season above .500, in a down year that doesn't mean much. What does matter is their 16-15 final record on the season.

UCLA - The Bruins ended last season escaping a last second shot by the VCU rams. If they played this year the Rams would probably run away with that contest. The season ended with the Bruins finishing 14-18, losers of 7 of their last 10. To be honest I am not really sure what is going on with them, but I will say that they are having another rebuilding stage.

Indiana - Lord have mercy on that program. Indiana has been up and down since Bob Knight was at the helm. One year they somehow made it to the NCAA Final versus Maryland. When Kelvin Sampson took over the job, it looked like their savior had arrived and they would make regular trips to the final four. Little did we know many NCAA violations would soon follow. In the last 2 seasons the Hoosiers have been able to muster 16 wins. This season ending better than the last with a 10-21 final record. Once the sanctions are removed Indiana is sure to bounce back... or at least we hope.

One thing this season has taught us is that while being at the top is tough, remaining at the top is even tougher.

Let me introduce you to the POTY Evan Turner

All year in college basketball the focus has been on John Wall. As a Kentucky fan I must say he has lived up to the expectations. HOWEVER, there is this other guy that has been ballin this year and if you are only a casual college basketball viewer you have probably missed out. His name is Evan Turner. Don't know who he is, check out ESPN tonight you may see his 40 foot buzzer beater about 20 or 30 times tonight.

Those of us that are die hard college watchers knew that he was the truth earlier in the year. He averaged nearly 20 points per game in the first month of the season. Then coming down from a dunk he fell and fractured bones in his back (aka he broke his back!). Luckily, Evan was able to recover and return 1 month earlier than expected. If that wasn't enough for you? Well just games after returning, he put Ohio State on his back and dropped 32 points against a Purdue team that was in the top 3 in the nation.

Since returning OSU has only lost 3 of its last 18 games and won the Big Ten regular season. Compare that to the 3 losses in 6 games that Evan Turner sat out. For you that think that I am just drinking the cool-aid, let me tell you that I am a HUGE Michigan football fan so for me to give a Buckeye credit means A LOT. Just in case you thought I lied in the title of this article you should know Evan Turner has already won the Big Ten Player of the year as well as the Sporting News player of the Year and SHOULD and hopefully will win every other player of the year award.

Do You Hear that?... It's the Sound of Bubbles Bursting

First off, shout out to the STANFORD CARDINAL (and Emmanuel with a career high) for beating number 2 seed Arizona State in the PAC 10 tournament and most likely killing ASU's NCAA hopes. They should not feel alone, however, as a number of other teams saw their dreams come to an end. Wake Forest was DESTROYED by a less than stellar Miami team and can now prepare for the NIT. Memphis dropped from its perch as Conference USA royalty and most likely out of the tournament after losing to bottom dweller Houston. Clemson also fell to NC State and their horribly clad coach and have tanked to finish the season once again. And as sad as it was for everyone to watch Cincinati's hopes of making the tournament dribbled out of bounds when Dixon fumbled the ball and Butler put in a 3 pointer off the glass as the clock expired.

State of College Basketball Address

While a lot of college basketball is focused on the Big East, as well they should be, I want to talk about the Big 6: the top Power Conferences as well as the top 6 candidates for Player of the Year in NCAA Basketball today. Therefore I present to you as President of the United Words of this Article, The State of College Basketball Address: Midseason Version.

Conferences:

1. Big East:

The Big East certainly isn’t the Big Easy this year. From top to bottom every team looks to be a dangerous one that could make a run at any moment in time. Even teams at the bottom of the conference like Rutgers or Connecticut have the talent to take on one of the top ten teams in the country and deal them an upset. Louisville is another team to watch out, as they were once thought to be one of the top teams in the country in the preseason. Then you throw Notre Dame with Harangody, Marquette, Pitt, Gerogetown, and West Virginia in the mix with conference leaders Villanova and Syracuse and you can’t say that this isn’t the conference to beat.

2. Big 12:

Let’s first start off by mentioning that the conference has the number 1 RPI in the nation. Not only that but the conference also includes the number 1 team in the nation as well as the best record when facing out of conference teams. All that makes us wonder how they are not the number 1 conference on this list. But then we have to look at the fact that besides Kansas no other team has separated itself as cream of the crop. It seems that inner conference play may be the Big 12’s gift and curse. Texas has definitely felt the wrath of a tough in conference schedule as its fall from an undefeated number 1 team has been well documented. But in March Madness, I don’t think any team will want to see a Big 12 team facing them because you know they come to play.

3. Big 10:

What a year for the Big 10. They came into the season as the proverbial favorites with some experts saying that they could put as many as 9 teams into the NCAA tournament. They lost a little steam coming into the conference schedule and because of their competitiveness, every team that makes it into the Big Dance will be at the very least battle tested. No one gives more evidence to this than Perdue. They started the season as a possible number one seed in the tournament, fell behind early and now has been riding a hot streak on the way to number 4 in the nation. They along with Michigan State and Ohio State have all reached the 20 win milestone already this season tying the Big 12 as the only conferences with 3 teams to accomplish that feat.

4. ACC:

Doesn't it just feel like Duke and the rest of the boys at this point? I really feel like the fall of North Carolina started a trend where any given day anybody in the ACC could beat anybody else in conference but then out of conference a lot of people would beat up on the ACC. You definitely don’t see it in their non-conference record this season as they actually sport the 2nd best record in that regard but while other teams in the nation seem to be trending upward, many ACC teams are going in the opposite direction They lost the Big Ten-ACC challenge and just don’t seem like the powerhouse conference of yesteryear. It looks as if the conference will probably squeeze 5 maybe 6 or 7 teams into the tournament and while that looks good on paper you are probably looking at only 3 teams that you are confident about making some noise: Duke, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. Other than that you really can’t feel all that good about Maryland, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Florida State, Can you?

5. SEC:

The one thing that the SEC must be commended for is the fact that after a very weak season last year this conference has made a very admirable comeback. A big part of that is the surge of Kentucky as one of the top teams in the nation with their Fab freshmen: John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, but even some of the other teams in the conference are showing some feistiness. I think the conference suffers a similar story as the ACC with only a few stars and all of them coming out of the SEC East. This conference looks to have 3 teams surely into the tournament: Kentucky, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt with Mississippi, Mississippi State, or Florida perhaps providing a fourth off of the bubble.

6. Pac 10:

Wow, what a down year for the Pac-10. No team is looking really good and they will be lucky to get more than one team into the tournament this year with Cal (ugh) looking at an 11 seed. If Cal wins the NCAA tournament, they will be the only team representing the conference in the Big Dance and that’s just disturbing to me as a Stanford fan. It is important to note that the Pac-10 has had 21 players be drafted to the NBA, many of them being underclassmen thus taking some of the talent out of the conference. The Pac-10 is in need of a big influx of new talent to resurrect it back to its glory days.

Player of the Year Candidates:

1a. John Wall

Resume: 17.1 points per game, 6.5 assists per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, shooting 35% from three point land, 1.9 steals per game, leader of one of the nation’s top two teams, makes the big play when it matters most, and not that it matters but the sure number 1 pick in the upcoming draft.

1b. Evan Turner

Resume:19.5 points per game, 5.8 assists per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, shooting 55% from the field, 1.9 steals per game and probably one of the most important players to his team in the NCAA. Without him, Ohio State would probably be headed for a different tournament.

2. Wesley Johnson

Resume:16 points per game, 2.3 assists per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, 1.8 blocks per game, 1.6 steals per game, 40 % from 3 point land, 51 % from the field and an unselfish player that means a lot more to his team than his stats show.

3. Scottie Reynolds

Resume: 18.9 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, 40% from three point land, 48% from the field, 2.8 rebounds per game and one of the most reliable leaders of any NCAA team let alone one with national title aspirations.

4. Demarcus Cousins

Resume:16 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game, 1.7 blocks per game, truly challenging Wall as the most valuable player on that Kentucky team and the best and most physical big man in my opinion in the NCAA

5. Sherron Collins

Resume: 15.1 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 36.5 from three point land, 2.1 rebounds per game, 42% from the field and the tough and unquestionable leader of the number 1 team in the nation.

Outside looking in: Cole Aldrich of Kansas, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, Damion James of Texas