March 21st, 2005

Joel’s Monday Mailbag

Each Monday, Joel Welser will be bringing you his Monday Mailbag.  If you have a question which you'd like Joel to answer, email jwelser_chn@ameritech.net.  He’ll post and answer as many questions as possible.  Please include your first name and home state when contacting Joel. 

One question each week is chosen as the "Question of the Week", and is answered by a few CHN staffers.  At the end of each Monday Mailbag, Joel presents his "Team of the Week" and his "Thoughts of the Week."  Visit the Mailbag Archive for past installments.

Joel,

Last year the 8/9 seed beat the #1 seed twice, but all the top seeds are in the Sweet Sixteen this year.  When will a #1 seed finally lose?

From Timmy,

West Virginia

One top seed probably won’t make it to the Elite Eight.  Illinois faces Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Chicago, so the Illini won’t have a problem until Arizona or Oklahoma State will face the Illini with a bid to the Final Four on the line.  North Carolina is vulnerable to Villanova, but I don’t see that one happening either.  Duke has beaten Michigan State once already this year and it’ll take a big effort from the Spartans to knock off the Blue Devils.  I’ll be cheering very hard for that #1 seed to lose for what it’s worth.  Which leaves us with Washington.  The winner of the Louisville / Washington game will have a smooth path to the Final Four.  I have Louisville in my bracket, so I’m sticking with the Cardinals.  The Huskies looked impressive beating Pacific, but Francisco Garcia and company can keep up with Washington as long as their depth doesn’t become a major issue.  Rick Pitino sure had them ready to play against Georgia Tech and I have no reason to believe they can’t take it to the Huskies as well.

Joel,

While everyone is melting into the Big Dance and all the hoopla, one has to wonder what the hell is going on in the shadows of the NIT tourney with an early spanking of Indiana. What could possibly be next for this enigma of a team?  I'm waiting for Mike Davis to leave his seat at the head of the bench, except it would be hard to find any area where they're not ready to lynch Coach Davis on the spot.

Yes, the faithful are restless in Hoosierland. Could John Mellencamp find a soothing song to ease Mike Davis out of there, or will he fight it off until this next great recruiting class joins an already talented, yet iffy group of young hoopers?

From Dan,

Madison, WI

Not even the Cougar himself can ease the complaints of the Hoosier faithful.  As I have said

 before, Mike Davis deserves another year in Bloomington.  If he can’t do anything with the talent they have next year, then it is time to seriously question Davis.  Hoosier fans may be too spoiled to endure another year of Davis, but they can spend next winter sucking on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze instead of being belligerent basketball fans.  They won’t, they’ll still complain about Davis, but for at least one more year for Davis life goes on, long after the thrill of Hoosier fans is gone. 

Have a question?  Email Joel at jwelser_chn@ameritech.net, and please include your first name and home state. We’ll post and answer as many as possible.  All questions may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.

Question of the Week

 - The question of the week is answered by multiple CHN staffers -

Joel,

Which team is your biggest surprise to reach the Sweet Sixteen?

From Elliott,

Alabama

Jon Teitel

My initial pick for biggest surprise would have been Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but upon further review, they had a sensational regular season record, including some exposure to Tournament-quality teams (Wisconsin and Kansas), and #12 seeds have a decent track record of making the Sweet 16.  So, I will vote for North Carolina State. I did not think that the Wolfpack deserved an at-large berth, after finishing 7-9 in the ACC and losing 13 games overall. However, they proved me wrong this past weekend, with wins over Charlotte and Connecticut after trailing at halftime of each game. It also turns out that 8 of their 13 losses this year were to teams who won at least 1 game in the Tournament last weekend (2 losses to Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest, and 1 loss each to Washington and West Virginia).

Nick Meyer

I was really surprised that North Carolina State made it to the Sweet 16. They aren't a very athletic team from top to bottom, and nobody on their team impressed me much this season other than Julius Hodge. But their patient Princeton offense was tailor-made for defeating a young, impatient team like Connecticut. I've never really been impressed by the way they run the offense, but they have better personnel than the other teams that run it.  I think this win validates Hodge as one of the best players in N.C. State history. He's been the backbone of that team his entire career. He's always been a boastful, fiery competitor with his tough Harlem upbringing, and he certainly backed up his talk with an efficient 17-point performance on 5-10 shooting to with six assists. His game-winning drive and layup was a fearless, clutch play. The Wolfpack have a legit chance to get to the Elite Eight against Wisconsin, a similar team with a similar talent level.  The UConn win could be huge for Herb Sendek's program as he continues to
scratch and claw for recruits in his crowded North Carolina backyard.

Joel Welser

Twelfth seeded Wisconsin Milwaukee?  I had them in the Sweet Sixteen.  Tenth seeded NC State?  I had them in the Sweet Sixteen.  That is where I stopped getting lucky.

Seventh Seeded West Virginia?  I had them losing to Creighton in the first round, so they have surprised me the most.  Remember, this was a bubble team before they had their nice little run in the Big East Tournament.  But when you’re hot, you’re hot and I didn’t expect them to continue that run into the NCAAs.  D’or Fischer is playing like he was expected to coming into the year, Mike Gansey was insane against Wake Forest in the OTs and Kevin Pittsnogle has a really cool name…and isn’t a bad player either.  The Mountaineers might not be done surprising me either.  Fischer and Pittsnogle should be able to dominate the interior against Texas Tech and reach the Elite Eight…but I said the same thing about Gonzaga and they couldn’t pull it off against Bobby Knight. 

Have a question?  Email Joel at jwelser_chn@ameritech.net, and please include your first name and home state. We’ll post and answer as many as possible.  All questions may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.

Joel’s Team of the Week

Cal State Fullerton Titans

Don’t forget about the quality college hoops going on in the NIT.  Fullerton, making their third NIT appearance, drew a first round game in Corvallis.  Oregon State found themselves down 16 at the break, but made a furious comeback to take the Titans into overtime.  Things looked grim for the visiting squad after the Beavers erased an 11 point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation.  Fullerton held on thanks to Ralphy Holmes’ 27 points, including a last second jumper to give the Titans an 87-85 victory.  Bobby Brown also added 27 points for the Big West team.  It was Bobby Brown’s prerogative (I’m sure it is overused, but how could I resist that line?) to keep Fullerton’s NIT season alive and he did just that, leading CSF over San Francisco in the following round of the NIT.  Brown had a game high 25 points en route to a smooth 85-69 victory in San Fran.  

The road weary Titans will travel to Georgetown for their first nationally televised game since 1990 on Tuesday night.  The bad news is that the team’s leading scorer, Ralphy Holmes, was injured during the game at San Francisco and is out for the remainder of the season.  If Bob Burton’s squad can manage a win in DC, they’ll face the winner of UNLV and South Carolina with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line. 

Joel’s Thoughts of the Week

It is Monday, so we should all be sleeping much of the day to recover from the weekend, but don’t forget to wake up by 7:00 PM, or 4:00 for you West Coasters, to watch St. Joe’s and Holy Cross in the NIT.  Wichita State is still looking to prove that they belonged in the NCAAs when they take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym.  My Broncos of Western Michigan host TCU on Monday night as well, but it is lacking television exposure.  Even I might have to nap through that one.

Kudos

-Mike Gansey…for scoring an amazing 19 points in the two overtime periods as the Mountaineers knocked off Wake Forest Saturday night. 

-Delaware State…for having the best (and most amusing) gameplan against Duke.   

-North Carolina State…for saving me from being mathematically eliminated from the family pool by beating Charlotte and UConn. 

 For Shame

-Big Ten bashers…the road might not have been the most difficult for Wisconsin, Michigan State and Illinois, but they still went out there and got the job done.  Three Big Ten teams in the Sweet Sixteen beats out the likes of the all powerful (read sarcastically) Big East, who has just two. 

-CBS…for promoting “Spring Break, Shark Attack.”  I am baffled that the TV movie was ever made, but I’ll be even more baffled when people actually watch it.

-The city of Boise…for being ugly.  I don’t think I’ve ever been to Idaho, but the football field and basketball court sure are hideous.  I’m just guessing the rest of Boise is as well.

Have a question?  Email Joel at jwelser_chn@ameritech.net, and please include your first name and home state. We’ll post and answer as many as possible.  All questions may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.