Conference Tournament Madness

March Madness. This term brings up different feelings for different fans. For Ole Miss fans, it may bring up anger ( They haven't been to the big dance since 2001). For Mississippi State fans, the most normal feeling is probably anxiety (Being on the bubble is the norm for MSU recently). And for most Southern Miss fans? Well, they probably don't know how to feel ( 2 NCAA appearances, last appearance- 1991). But let's talk about something that can totally change your season up to this point.

Conference Tournaments. It doesn't matter how infuriating your team's season was up to this point. In conference tournaments, it's simple. Win and your in. 

So it's time to have some fun. Here are how things will unfold in the SEC conference tournament. (Or, at least, how I think it will).

 Game by game-


Game 1 (LSU vs. Arkansas)- This game will probably be a good match up. LSU has a frontcourt that may pose a problem for Arkansas. Ultimately though, I think Arkansas' defense will be too much for LSU.

Game 2 (Alabama vs. South Carolina)- This will not even be a good game to watch. Alabama's suffocating defense will confound an already confused USC offense. 12 points may be too little to pick Bama to win by.

Game 3 (Ole Miss vs. Auburn)- This game wouldn't even be close. Except that Auburn has been on a great shooting streak recently. UM fans better hope Frankie Sullivan doesn't drop 30+, or this could be a long night for Ole Miss.

Game 4 (Mississippi State vs. Georgia)- A blowout. MSU will get revenge against the team that started their 5- game free fall. This won't be a good game. MSU will jump on Georgia and then go for UGA's jugular.

Second Round


Game 5 (Arkansas vs. Kentucky)- This game will feature two great defenses. Unfortunately for Arkansas, this game only boasts one great offense.

Game 6 (Alabama vs. Florida)-  If Florida doesn't hit their 3 pointers, Alabama could win this easily. The only problem with that is that UF doesn't often get cold from behind the arc. And if the Gator's are hitting their 3's, Bama will have to make 'em too. That won't happen. The Tide is on pace to become the worst 3-point shooting team in SEC history.

Game 7- (Ole Miss vs. Tennessee)- UT is playing really good amazing. Their the second hottest team in the SEC right now. Ole Miss will play pretty good, but ultimately I think UT's 3-point shooting will be the last nail in the coffin for Ole Miss.

Game 8 (Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt)- If Vandy doesn't catch fire, Mississippi State will win this. Think about it. Vandy hasn't done anything spectacular. They've won the games they were supposed to. No major upsets. No spectacular wins. Plus, the Bulldogs are playing as good as anyone in the country right now.

Semi-Finals


Game 9 (Kentucky vs. Florida)-  UF will play good for this game with a trip to the SEC championship game on the line. Florida is a GREAT home team. However, this game is being played on a neutral court. And in my opinion, Florida is just a GOOD team on a neutral/ away court. And UK is a GREAT team everywhere.

Game 10 (Tennessee vs. Mississippi State)- This game will be a good match up. MSU has the advantage in the front court as well as the back court. So honestly, I expect MSU to outplay UT. Another reason to pick the bulldogs: MSU has done abnormally well in the SEC tournament under Rick Stansbury. But I do think that UT will have done enough to get a bid into the NCAA tournament.

Championship Round


Championship Game (Game 11- Kentucky vs. MSU)- Frankly, this game will be the same old song for State. The Dogs will come out playing great. Take a (fairly) large lead into the locker room. Start crying about some questionable calls from the officials with about 7:30 left in the game. Make a major mistake. Kentucky will take the lead. State will have to foul and hope that Kentucky will miss their free throws. Yep.

So, here's what I think this tournament will do for teams trying to make the NCAA tournament:

Kentucky #1 seed overall (rightly so)
Florida #4 seed
Vanderbilt #6 seed
Mississippi State #7 seed
Alabama #9 seed
Tennessee #11 seed,

So that's what I think. If you'll post who you think will win in the comments section below, we'll have contest. Winner gets a shout out on the blog's next post after the tournament.

Any questions/comments/thoughts? Thanks for reading!

Rick Stansbury- the Truth Behind His Tenure at Mississippi State

In the wake of a 3 game losing streak, MSU fans are screaming like an angry mob for Scott Stricklin to fire Rick Stansbury. 3 losses to totally inferior teams can do that to a fan base. But I'm suggesting a radical idea: let's sit down and use our brains before we make a decision that affects someone's life. Let's decide using facts and statistics how Mississippi State's coach's success compares to "better coaches" as well as other schools in a similar situation.

1. Let's play a game. Let's compare the first 13 season's of 5 current coaches.
You will need: pen and paper.

Coach #1
304 wins- 126 losses
.706 winning percentage
5 conference championships
2 conference division championships
1 Sweet 16 appearance
1 Elite 8 appearance
1 Final 4 appearance

Coach #2
241 wins- 118 losses
.675 winning percentage
2 conference division championships
2 regular season conference championships
1 conference tournament championship
1 national championship

Coach #3
291 wins- 158 losses
.648 winning percentage
3 conference tournament championships
1 regular season conference championships
5 conference division championships
-Never advanced past NCAA Second Round

Coach #4
222 wins- 132 losses
.627 winning percentage
5 conference tournament championships
- Never advanced past NCAA Second Round

Coach #5
245 wins- 169 losses
.591 winning percentage
2 Conference tournament championships
2 Conference regular season championships
-Never advanced past NCAA Sweet 16

Now:

•  Rank these above coaches 1-5. Write it down.
•  Now rank these following coaches 1-5:

John Calipari
John Calhoun
Kevin Stallings
Billy Donovan
Rick Stansbury

•  Here are the coaches to the resumes above.

Coach #1: John Calipari
Coach #2: Billy Donovan
Coach #3: Rick Stansbury
Coach #4: John Calhoun
Coach #5: Kevin Stallings.

•  Compare your two lists. Are they the same? Probably not.

You see, no matter how your list's compared, you will see that Rick Stansbury is in fine company in his first 13 seasons as a head coach.

2. Here are the top 6 basketball conferences in America (according to ESPN)
1.Big East
2. Big Ten
3. Big 12
4. SEC
5. ACC
6. Pac- 12

MSU has done better in the Stansbury era than most of the schools in these "power conferences". But here is what he's done it with. MSU has a $35.9 million athletic budget, the smallest in the SEC. However, Stansbury has consistently finished in the top 4 of the SEC standings.

Now let's compare the smallest athletic budgets of the other "power conferences" and their basketball success to that of MSU's. (Note: Not all schools, especially private schools, report their athletic budget)

Big East- South Florida (a all-sport member) has a $37.8 million athletic budget. They have had some success recently, but nothing comparable to what Stansbury has done. They have not finished in the top half of the Big East, much less the top 4 in the conference. They have only made 2 NCAA tournament appearances.

Big 10- Purdue has a $57.6 million athletic budget. Purdue has been an excellent team recently, consistently making the NCAA tournament, being ranked in the top 25, and winning games against good opponents.

Big 12-  Iowa State (another team experiencing new found success) has an athletic budget of $42.3 million dollars. They haven't had a good team since the Larry Eustachy years (Elite Eight in '00)

ACC- NC State has an athletic budget of $49.5 million dollars. For the past 4-5 years, NC State has had similar success to MSU; however, they have not made an NCAA tournament since '06.

Pac-12- Utah is the only team from a power conference that has a smaller athletic budget than MSU ($29.7 million). Utah has had good success in basketball, but not near as much MSU in the Stansbury era.

Facts: In the past 13 years
MSU was better than South Florida
Purdue was better than Mississippi State. But they have a athletic budget nearly 1.5x MSU's.
MSU was better than Iowa State.
MSU was better than Utah.

Now MSU fans can you see how your coach compares to other schools in similar positions in other conferences. What Rick Stansbury has done at MSU is nothing short of amazing. Now we will finish our investigation of whether or not MSU should keep Rick Stansbury. This is the fun part for MSU fans. Let's see what the other aforementioned coach's did in the rest of their careers (so far).

John Calipari-
493 wins- 153 losses
.763 winning percentage
13 NCAA tournament appearances
2 NCAA Final 4 appearances

Billy Donovan-
416 wins –173 losses
.706 winning percentage
11 NCAA tournament appearances
2 NCAA tournament championships (coincidentally he won one in his 14th season)

Jim Calhoun-
618 wins–233 losses
.726 winning percentage
22 NCAA tournament appearances
2 NCAA championships
Kevin Stallings-
253 wins-155 losses
.620 winning percentage

You can clearly see what these other coaches have done AFTER their 13th year. And after all, very few coaches make it 13 years in coaching anyway. In my opinion, the question MSU fans SHOULD be asking is "Can we afford NOT to continue on this road with Stansbury?"

It's true that Mississippi State has lost to "bad" opponents recently. It's also true that Mississippi State seems to underachieve at times during the season. If these things are true, then you must also accept the fact that Stansbury has had an unpreciedented amount of success at Mississippi State. These are all facts and therefore true. And when you have the power to affect someone's future, you MUST make decisions based upon fact.

Just Some Thoughts... 2/16/12

1. Basketball in Mississippi can just be abysmal sometimes. Now would be about that time.

MSU has dropped 2 straight to completely inferior teams. Why? Well in my opinion, they are simply tired. For a good stretch, they played a 7- man rotation.

I am writing this during the skull dragging that is the Vanderbilt @ Ole Miss game. Vandy is up 23, but that is close considering how bad it was earlier in the game.

Southern Miss is still having a very solid season, but just suffered a loss at the hands of a horrendous UAB team.

2. Baseball season starts tomorrow!!!!!!
Ole Miss opens up in Ft. Worth, TX against a consensus preseason top-15 team in TCU. Mississippi State opens up with a Washington State team trying to regain momentum. USM opens up against a paltry Nicholls State in Hattiesburg. All 3 teams have a great chance at making it to the postseason this year.

3. It's official. I'm Linsane. Jeremy Lin has emerged as the best story in the NBA since the 3- point line. He has brought the New York Knicks back to a .500 record but more importantly revamped a bored fan base. Here's the good part: Carmelo Anthony isn't even playing with the team yet (due to a injury). How Carmelo is going to fit Lin (See what I did there?)with this new dynamic surrounding the team is going to be very interesting to watch. Carmelo just doesn't seem like the type to give away the spotlight and be happy about it. Hopefully 'Melo realizes the ultimate truth: America is Linfected with Linsanity. (+10 points for me)

Any thoughts/ comments/ questions? Thanks for reading!

Just Some Thoughts... 1/25/12

1. Wow. I just watched a great game. If you missed it, LSU just gave MSU a complete run for their money. The game ended in a steal by Dee Bost (something MSU has become accustomed to). Some stats that jump out to me:
A. MSU outrebounded LSU 40-23. MSU had 17 offensive rebounds .
B. Arnett Moultrie had 28 points and 12 rebounds. He's on the top of my (imaginary) SEC player of the year ballot right now. He's also a Wooden award finalist as well.
C. LSU shot 52% from behind the 3 point line. 11-21(!!!).

2. Ole Miss has a huge match up tomorrow against Florida (@Ole Miss). I think one of the key match ups will be to see if Ole Miss' 3 point shooters can keep up with Florida's 3 point shooters. Ole Miss averages 3 3-pointers per game.

3. Is anyone going to watch the probowl? I'm not. Just not interested in watching people play football with nothing on the line. In the case of professional all-star games, I side with the MLB. That all-star game at least decides which league will have home field advantage.

4. Alabama lost @ South Carolina. That is just another great example of how there is not one game on anyone's schedule that is a "gimme".

Any comments/ thoughts/ questions? Thanks for reading!

Just Some Thoughts... 1/21/12

Wow!!!! What a great day of college basketball!!!

1. I know that polls mean nothing, but I personally don't think Mississippi State will fall in the polls this week. That Vanderbilt win was HUGE. Speaking of polls, we will have a new number 1. And in my opinion, that team should (and will) be Kentucky.

2. Ole Miss pulled out an awesome win at Georgia today. They played very well and continued to play solid basketball for the second straight game. It looks like to me that Andy Kennedy is doing his best coaching under pressure.

3. A crazy day for the top 10 in college basketball. #1 Syracuse fell to Notre Dame without major player Fab Melo (all-name team, right?) #3 Baylor lost at home to #5 Missouri in a close game #4 Duke broke a 45- game home winning streak on a last second shot to Florida State.

4. My picks for this weekend:
Baltimore (35%) @ New England (65%)- New England's offense will just be too much for Baltimore's Offense to keep up with.
New York Giants (55%) @ San Francisco 49's (45%)- This is the most intriguing match up of this weekend. My gut just tells me that Eli will be clutch this weekend.

Any thoughts/ comments/ questions? Thanks for reading!

Just Some Thoughts... 1/15/12

It's been a rather exciting weekend in sports. Let's get to talking about it.

1. The Saints lost to the 49's this past Saturday. It was exciting game. Congrats to the Niners and their fans. It's been a while since they've won at all. The Saints had a record-breaking season and it was a success if you ask me.

2. Tebow-Mania is over (at least for this year). Does anyone else think that Tim has made this season very memorable? He is a great story and I can't wait to pull for him next year.

3. Eli and the Giants knocked off the top seeded Packers today. Does it seem like 2008 again? I personally like the Giants to win it all now.

4. College Basketball in the state of Mississippi. Ole Miss lost to Auburn(@ AU) in 2OT by 1 point. Yes, you heard that right. Ole Miss lost to Auburn. Mississippi State beat Alabama in a close one at the Hump. I think this win will help the bulldogs in the long run. With all of that said, boy am I looking forward to this Wednesday. Mississippi State @ Ole Miss. It ought to be a good game. Look for the Rebs to press the dogs in the backcourt. And look for MSU to get the ball inside to Moultrie for easy points ( UM can't hang with the MSU frontcourt).

Any thoughts/comments/questions? Thanks for reading!

Just Some Thoughts...1/11/12

 I think its important to continue to post on the blog (even during the "off season"), so I'm gonna try to write in the blog several times a week. KEYWORD: TRY. This is a new feature I'm going to write when I don't have much else to write about. So here I go. 

1. Shout out to Lane Myers, who says he doesn't keep up with the blog (he obviously does). He won the blog's college bowl mania challenge with a 98.8%(!!!) accuracy. I will say this for Lane: It's about time he wins something (he's a Tennessee Volunteer). 

2.Congrats to the University of Alabama on their most recent national championship! They were obviously the better team (this time). Some ideas here: a) Is Alabama the #1 team in the nation? (I think so.) b) Will this hurt the SEC's chances of having another all SEC national championship in the BCS-era? (I don't think it will matter. All signs point to a "plus-one" system next year.)

3.As I was writing this, I watched USM lose to Memphis yet again in basketball. Then this thought popped into my head: Has USM EVER  beaten Memphis? I looked it up. Memphis leads USM 63-23 (according to the UM website).

4.I guess I have underestimated the importance of home-court advantage in college basketball. Two examples: a) Logic would tell you that Mississippi State would have beaten Arkansas badly. Not at Bud-Walton Arena. They thrashed MSU.  b) Also as I am writing this, Ole Miss is beating Arkansas by 9 points early in the second half at the Tad- Pad. The only thing (in my opinion) that could explain this abnormal occurence? Home- Court advantage.

5.My picks this weekend in the playoffs with a percentage (picks in bold caps):

Denver (30%) @ New England (70%)- I am SO pulling for Tim Tebow. 

Texans (35%) @ Ravens (65%)- This game doesn't interest me much.

Giants (40%) @ Green Bay (60%)- Good match up. It will ultimately come down to the giants ability (or inability) to score.

Saints (55%) @ 49's (45%) - I don't think there is any defense that can stop this offense. 

Any thoughts/ comments/questions? Thanks for reading!

College Hoops- Preview

In my opinion, there is absolutely NOTHING as exciting in sports as march madness. It's hard to imagine that college sports are about to be in full swing. College football (conference championships, bowl games, etc.) and college basketball combine to make an thrilling time of the year for sports junkies like me. College basketball can also help get your mind off other sports (cough,cough....ole miss....Mississippi State...). So let's start this preview. Here's this year's preseason top 25. (Note the margin between the number of first place votes between UNC and Kentucky)

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	North Carolina (30)	0-0	774
2	Kentucky (1)	0-0	721
3	Ohio State	0-0	702
4	Connecticut	0-0	655
5	Syracuse	0-0	649
6	Duke	0-0	635
7	Vanderbilt	0-0	567
8	Louisville	0-0	514
9	Memphis	0-0	482
10	Florida	0-0	474
11	Pittsburgh	0-0	471
12	Baylor	0-0	358
13	Kansas	0-0	331
14	Wisconsin	0-0	313
15	Xavier	0-0	277
16	Arizona	0-0	269
17	Alabama	0-0	194
18	Michigan	0-0	187
19	Texas A&M	0-0	161
20	UCLA	0-0	147
21	Marquette	0-0	145
22	Cincinnati	0-0	141
23	Gonzaga	0-0	125
24	California	0-0	111
25	Missouri	0-0	110

• Others receiving votes: Florida State 108, Texas 107, Michigan State 73, Temple 59, Washington 29, Butler 25, New Mexico 22, Creighton 19, Villanova 18, Purdue 17, UNLV 16, West Virginia 13, George Mason 12, Mississippi State 11, St. John's 11, Saint Mary's 5, Virginia 5, Virginia Commonwealth 4, Drexel 2, Kansas State 2, Long Beach State 2, Notre Dame 1, Brigham Young 1

The Power Conferences

1. Big  East

This comes as no surprise to anyone, but the Big East is poised to be the conference to beat this year.  With 10 teams receiving votes in the above poll, the Big East is looking strong this year.

    2.ACC

The ACC should probably be renamed to the ABC (Atlantic Basketball Conference). This conference LIVES for basketball. With some of the most talented teams in college basketball (UNC, Duke, WV), this is the conference that is most likely going to beat the Big East this year.

Sleeper Conferences

1. SEC

With 2 teams in the preseason top 10 this year and teams loaded with raw talent (Alabama, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss), look for the SEC to get hot this year around March Madness.

    2. Big 12 (10 or 9.... I forget.)

With teams like Texas and Kansas, all 9 or 10 teams in the Big 12 will be pushed to be better better this season. Look at K-State or Texas A&M as specific sleepers this year to win this conference.

The Best of the Rest

1. Xavier
2. Temple
3. Butler
4. George Mason
5. Saint Mary's
6. Murrah State
7. Virginia Commonwealth
8. Belmont
9. Harvard
10. Cornell

With ALL of that said, I'm really hoping for some crazy good basketball this winter.