NCAA Tournament

Atlantic 10 Notebook

ljk2171 — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:02:12 -0800

If the final week of the Atlantic 10's regular season is as unpredictable as the one that has just passed, the conference will be giving fans an early treat heading into championship week. Over the past five days there was a change atop the standings, leaving a tie between Xavier and Massachusetts as well as the two last place teams in the conference, Saint Bonaventure and Richmond both pulling off upsets and shaking up the A-10 tournament picture. Saint Joseph's which previously had sole possession of fourth place and control of the final first round bye for the upcoming A-10 tournament in Atlantic City, lost in Richmond on Saturday as the Spider claimed only their seventh win of the season. Now the Hawks find themselves tied with a hot George Washington team that has won three in a row with games versus Charlotte and Duquesne remaining whereas St. Joe's faces the two conference leaders, Xavier and Massachusetts.
The Musketeers and Minutemen confiscated first place earlier in the week thanks to Xavier knocking off then conference leader Rhode Island. Both teams face St. Joe's and LaSalle this upcoming week, where the Hawks will try to play themselves out of a first round game as opposed to the Explorers hoping to somehow slide into Atlantic City and extend their season at least one more game.

Atlantic 10 Player of the Week: Justin Doellman, Xavier. The senior has helped Xavier win six straight games and two this past week while capturing first place with their win over then first-place Rhode Island. Doellman averaged 20 points per contest this past week including thrashing the Rams for 29 in this past week's marquee Atlantic 10 showdown. Doellman has helped the Musketeers all season with his ability to play both inside and out, using his 6'9, 210 pound frame and showing the ability to shoot the three has created match up problems for Atlantic 10 rivals.

Atlantic 10 Game of the Week: Saint Joseph's @ Xavier, 7:00 Wednesday. The conference leading Musketeers take on Saint Joseph's at the Cintas Center in a key late season battle. The Hawks stars will need help if they want to rebound from a horrible loss to Richmond in which four players combined for all 68 of the Hawk's points. While the Hawks rely heavily on Pat Calathes, Ahmad Nivens, and Rob Ferguson for their scoring, the Musketeers use the most balanced scoring attack in the conference. Expect Xavier to extend their winning streak in a 77-72 victory and enhance their chances at an at-large bid should they stumble in Atlantic City.

Bubble Busters: With Selection Sunday rapidly approaching, Xavier now welcomes one more team to the bubble as Massachusetts has won four straight and hopes to give the Atlantic 10 multiple NCAA tournament bids. Should they both reach the tournament finals, the conference which had appeared to be a surefire one bid league for most of the season would have a very good shot at sending both, especially if the Minutemen can attain the automatic berth. While the two keep winning, many bubble teams throughout the power conferences and Mountain West have suffered what seems to be setback after setback.

Be sure to check back later in the week for a preview of the final weekend of action in the Atlantic 10 and a special Atlantic 10 Notebook next week featuring a conference tournament preview, as well as a preview of championship week to see how Xavier and Massachusetts compare with the remainder of the NCAA hopefuls.

Bracketology (2/20/07)

ljk2171 — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:02:38 -0800

1-N.Carolina*, Wisconsin*, UCLA*, Florida*
2-Kansas*, Pitt*, Texas A&M, Ohio St
3-Memphis*, Duke, Washington St, Georgetown
4-S.Illinois*, Virginia, Nevada*, Kentucky
5-Butler*, Indiana, Marquette, Arizona
6-Texas, Air Force*, Michigan St, Boston College
7-Oklahoma St, Oregon, VA Tech, Tennessee
8-W.Virgina, Stanford, Notre Dame, Maryland
9-Louisville, USC, Texas Tech, Purdue
10-Winthrop*, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Illinois
11-Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, GA Tech
12-Xavier*, Gonzaga*, BYU, Creighton
13-VCU*, Akron*, Davidson*, Vermont*
14-S.Alabama*, Penn*, Marist*, Austin Peay*
15-ETSU*, Oral Roberts*, Weber St*, Holy Cross*
16-Texas A&M-CC*, Long Beach St*, Del St*, CCSU*, Jackson St*
*Automatic Qualifier

Last Four In: Creighton, BYU, Clemson, Georgia
Last Four Out: Florida St, Michigan, Missouri St, UNLV
Next Four Out: Bradley, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas St

National Notes: Another "Bracket Buster" has come and gone, however, uncertainty for several mid-major programs has remained. At the forefront of the chaos was Drexel's victory in Omaha against Creighton. The Blue Jays now find themselves on the bubble and cannot afford anything less than a strong finish to the regular season combined with a run to at least the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals to ensure their berth in the NCAA Tournament safely. Creighton was not the only MVC team to take a hit over the weekend, Missouri State stumbled against Winthrop Friday night on their home court with an uninspiring second half that put Winthrop on the bubble, which is all they can ask for if disaster strikes in the Big South Tournament. The win would have been a nice feather in the cap of Missouri State who will now need to follow a similar path to that of Creighton and reach the MVC semifinals at the minimum. Memphis received a scare from a Gonzaga team trying to find its identity at a very precarious time of the season thanks to some off the court troubles. While Memphis' win may not look overly impressive on the surface, for a team who has faced weak competition from Conference USA over the past few months, going across country to a hostile environment and having to pull out a win in overtime versus a desperate team may go a long way come March. Two national powers that have struggled as of late, Duke and Arizona, may benefit from the suicide schedules they put together this season more than many experts seem to think. With a lack of standout teams being considered for number 3, 4, and 5 seeds, the Blue Devils and Wildcats could secure number three seeds and possibly slide up to a number two seed if several things break right, this includes taking care of their own business, which may prove to be each club's downfall. Lastly, credit has to be given to Mississippi Head Coach Andy Kennedy, the Rebels' first year coach has surpassed everyone's expectations guiding Ole Miss to 17 victories through Monday, most since the 2001-02 season, as well as a share of the SEC West lead. Kennedy served as interim head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats last season before being passed over in favor of Mick Cronin. The Bearcats currently reside in the basement of the Big East and will not qualify for the conference tournament.

Atlantic 10 Notebook

ljk2171 — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:44:50 -0800

The top of the Atlantic 10 proved their merit this past weekend in conference matchups with Rhode Island, Xavier, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, and George Washington all turning in victories. Jim Baron's Rhode Island squad continues to hold onto sole possession of first place due to the sharp shooting of the coach's son, Jimmy Baron, the 6'2 sophomore was 11 for 14 from the field including 9 three pointers on the way to beating former Conference USA members Saint Louis and Charlotte. Hanging onto first place looks to be a challenging task as the Rams face Xavier in Cincinnati then head back home to face a formidable Fordham squad. Baron wasn't the only Ram to turn in a solid performance this week as the Rhode Island frontcourt outplayed E.J. Drayton of Charlotte in an 85-69 defeat of the 49ers. In the win, forwards Will Daniels and Joe Mbang combined for 31 points and 15 rebounds to help Rhode Island surprise Charlotte on the boards by a 12 rebound margain.
On the topic of good shooting and rebounding, George Washington used both combined with a night to forget for the A-10's top scorer, Temple guard Dionte Christmas in a win over the Owls Saturday. Christmas was a woeful 2 for 14 from the field for 5 points and just as many turnovers. A bright spot for Temple was the 33 points from Mark Tyndale who has played very well over the last month creating matchup problems for rest of the conference with his versatile play needed for the Owl's four guard lineup to be successful, the Owls were 5-3 since mid-January before dropping 2 straight on the road.
With the Atlantic 10 tournament rapidly approaching, the battle for the top four seeds is still up for grabs amongst nine teams, however time is running out as only two weeks remain. Currently St. Joe's is hanging onto a one-game lead over George Washington for the fourth spot. It still appears that only one team from the conference will be dancing come Selection Sunday. Despite it's less than desirable chances for an at-large berth, Xavier still remains the sexiest team for the selection committee. Although they did not participate in the Bracket Buster this weekend, Xavier was actually helped by the abysmal performance of the Missouri Valley Conference, as well as teams like Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Mississippi, and San Diego State all suffering key defeats. If the Muskateers are victorious the remainder of the regular season, they will finish 23-7, while going 13-3 in the conference. With the impressive regular season record and noticable wins over tournamnet hopefuls Villanova, Virginia Commonwealth, Illinois, and Kansas State, an at-large bid still remains a possibility for Xavier.

Atlantic 10 Player of the Week: In two road victories this week, UMass forward Stephane Lasme was a force on both ends of the court averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds, while swatting away 5 shots versus Dayton and 7 against Fordham. If the Minutemen look to finish the season strong and make a run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Travis Ford will need Lasme and center Rashaun Freeman to continue their dominance as the premiere post players in the Atlantic 10.

Atlantic 10 Game of the Week: Rhode Island @ Xavier, Wednesday 7:00. Rhode Island brings the conference's top three point shooting team to this week's feature matchup against Xavier, the team with the stingiest perimeter defense in the A-10. Trailing Rhode Island by a game in the win column, Xavier faces an important matchup with the Rams this week in Cincinnati. The Muskateers could use as many quality wins as possible to bolster their at-large hopes and conference leading Rhode Island provides that opportunity. Jimmy Baron, the Rams' top shooter is coming off of a stellar week and will have to dish out more of the same for the Rams to head back to Kingston holding onto first place. Look for the Muskateers to use their balanced scoring attack to take over first place with a 80-70 home win.

Bubble Busters: As Xavier's quest for the aforementioned at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament will be determined over the next few weeks, some teams suffered some major hits to their NCAA resumes this week. Missouri Valley teams Missouri State and Creighton hopped back on the bubble with their Bracket Buster losses to Winthrop and Drexel respectively. Creighton still looks to be in decent shape, but is no longer the "lock" some had previously thought just a week ago. Andy Kennedy's surprising Mississippi squad had their four game winning streak snapped at Arkansas Saturday damaging their at-large hopes despite finding themselves tied atop the SEC West with fellow bubble team Alabama and Mississippi State, a probable NIT invite. Lastly, the Muskateers received good news upon hearing of defeats from Iowa and San Diego State, two teams that now appear to be in need of automatic berths via victories in their conference tournaments.

Bracketology 2/16/07

ljk2171 — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:25:26 -0800

March Madness has long been known for dramatic buzzer beaters, memorable upsets, and crushing defeats. Guys named Tyus go coast to coast and become heroes for several hours as fans throughout the country breathe a sigh of relief and put that red pen away, the same pen that comes out a few hours later to get some heavy work as some guy named Bryce stakes his claim in March Madness history with a play called "pacer". It's moments like these that make March special, unless the thought of Ryan Howard taking BP off some AA pitcher in Clearwater gets you going, then these are the type of moments that make Jammes Forrest, Mike Miller, and Tate George legends (possibly begrudged) to college basketball fans everywhere.
Granted, nothing beats the NCAA Tournament in my mind, but the month leading up to the tournament is very close. Teams jockeying for that one last win to stick in the minds of the selection committee, teams making 4 day runs through their conference tournamnets to make up for futile seasons, it almost seems like something important happens everyday in regards to the infamous "bubble". Ahh the bubble, the greatest phrase in sports, nothing better than waking up to the replay of the late night SportsCenter, which happens to be showing for the seventh consecutive hour to see Dickie V and Digger argue over the merits of the Missouri Valley Conference versus the eight and ninth teams from the ACC.
The best though is trying to do the work of the 10 member selection committee by yourself in a few hours, for them it takes what seems to be 5 days of voting teams in the tournament and seeding them 1 through 65 while waiting for the results of conference tournaments from A.C. to L.A. Around the middle of February each season, experts start their "Bracketology" and I love it, because apparently there are other poor souls out there like myself that week after week start putting together their own brackets and wait for Selection Sunday about as patiently as a teenager waiting for the release of PS3. Then the brackets get released we all wonder who will be this year's George Mason or Harold "The Show" Arceneau, remember him? Carolina fans do. Yes, March is upon us.

Here are my current seed projections for February 12, 2007:

1-Wisconsin, UCLA, Florida, UNC
2-Ohio St, Pitt, Texas A&M, Kansas
3-Georgetown, Washington St, Kentucky,S.Illinois
4-Duke, Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma St
5-Butler, Memphis, Marquette, VA Tech
6-Virginia, Texas, Oregon, BC
7-W.Virginia, Nevada, Tennessee, Air Force
8-USC, GA Tech, Villanova, Florida St
9-Clemson, Michigan St, Maryland, Notre Dame
10-Stanford, Purdue, Tx Tech, Louisville
11-Illinois, Georgia, Creighton, Missouri St
12-Oklahoma, Xavier*, Winthrop*, Gonzaga*
13-Vermont*, Akron*, VCU*, Davidson*
14-Oral Roberts*, Penn*, Marist*, South Alabama*
15-ETSU*, Weber St*, Austin Peay*, Long Beach St*
16-Holy Cross*, MVSU*, Del St*, CCSU*, Holy Cross*
*Automatic Qualifier

Last Four In: Georgia, Creighton, Missouri St, Oklahoma
Last Four Out: Alabama, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Syracuse
Next Four Out: Michigan, Bradley, BYU, Mississippi