Jack Blankenship is BACK

And this time, he's campaigning to become University of Alabama's president. Not student body president...the president of the university. If the Board of Trustees knows what's good for them, they will immediately get rid or Dr. Robert E. Witt and put this hilarious kid into office.

Pick of the Tournament: Ohio State -2.5 against Kansas

Ohio State
After receiving a #2 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, all college basketball experts would have agreed that the season had been a disappointing one for the Buckeyes to date. Ohio State started the year ranked #3 overall in the preseason polls after returning 4 of its top 6 scorers from last year's tournament #1 overall seed (including 1st Team All-American Jared Sullinger). However, the Buckeyes were exposed a bit in conference play, losing 6 combined games to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State (x2) due to injuries and poor shooting. However, the team got hot at the right time and has stormed through the tournament with convincing wins over Loyola (18pts), Gonzaga (7pts), Cinci (15pts), and Syracuse (7pts).

The team is anchored at Center by Jared Sullinger (18ppg, 9rpg), but the Buckeyes can get offense from every position on the floor. Deshaun Thomas (16ppg) and William Buford (14ppg) have the ability to put up points in bunches and the Buckeyes get solid production from both Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith. Craft is the heart and soul of the defense but this team is far from a defensive stalwart. The Buckeyes go 7 deep but there is significant drop off in production when you get past the starting 5.

Kansas
Let's all be honest here. On the other side of things, Kansas has significantly exceeded all expectations this year. The Jayhawks were picked to finish 13th in the preseason polls, but most college basketball experts didn't give the team a shot to advance to the final weekend of the tournament after losing the Morris twins to the draft and Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed to graduation.  Let's again be honest. Kansas is lucky as hell to be where they are today. The Jayhawks needed a Purdue collapse in the Round of 32 (3pt win), late turnovers by NC State in the Sweet 16 (3pt win), and an injured Kendall Marshall (13pt win) to set up this matchup with Ohio State.

During the season, Kansas lost a total of 6 games (all to tournament teams and all by 10 points or less) and beat Ohio State at home (Sullinger was injured and did not play) in December by 11 points. The team lives and dies by the play of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor, who together accounted for approximately 50% of the team's total point production this year.  Like Ohio State, the Jayhawks only go 7 deep.

Prediction
This key to the game will be Ohio State's ability to take either Taylor or Robinson out of their games. Luckily, the Buckeyes have the perfect ingredient to do just that: Aaron Craft. Craft is considered by most to be the best on-the-ball defender in college basketball and completely shut down Taylor in the first matchup. Craft held Taylor to 9 points while forcing him to commit 6 turnovers. Kansas gets most of production in half-court sets at the end of the shot clock by isolating Taylor, which will be a difficult strategy to employ in this matchup. I think Craft's ability to disrupt Taylor (and thus Kansas' half-court offense) will be the biggest factor in the game.

In terms of match-ups, Ohio State again has the advantage. Many people will say that the Robinson/Thomas matchup is clearly in Kansas' favor, but I say not so fast. Thomas is a pure offensive weapon who is the leading scorer in the entire NCAA tournament this year. He will force Robinson out the perimeter which will create a real match-up problem and will prevent Robinson from playing help defense on Sullinger.
PG: Taylor vs. Craft: PUSH
SG: Johnson vs. Smith: Kansas (small)
SF: Releford vs. Buford: Ohio State (large)
PF: Robinson vs. Thomas: PUSH
C: Withey vs. Sullinger: Ohio State (large)
Bench: PUSH
Coaching: Self vs. Matta: PUSH - although Self has a championship, both coaches have choked away too many tournament games to give an edge to one side over the other.

Many people will say that the X Factor could be Kansas' ability to switch up defensive schemes and employ a Triangle and 2 defense that worked so well against UNC in the Elite 8. Unfortunately, this will be a very difficult defense to run against a team that puts 5 legitimate scorers on the floor (each starter has scored 17 points or more in a game in the tournament) and has good shooters and a very strong PG.  

Taking all of these factors in to consideration, I predict a 8-10 point win for the Buckeyes.

James Justice Is Spud Webb Reincarnated

The little man was an absolute animal in last night's college slam dunk contest. The 5'9" pg out-dunked everyone in route to taking home the championship belt.

All-High School vs. All-College vs. All-International

The answer to this question has historically been an easy one, but we have finally reached the point where we have a real conversation. If you lined up 4 teams with the best NBA players at each position from (1) players who never went to college vs. (2) players who spent 1 year in college vs. (3) players who spent more than 1 year in college vs. (4) international players, who wins?

I had to shuffle around positions a bit, but my teams are below. 

All-High School Team
PG - Brandon Jennings
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - Lebron James
PF - Amare Stoudemire
C - Dwight Howard

One and Done College Team
PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Kyrie Irving
SF - Kevin Durant
PF - Chris Bosh
C - Kevin Love

All Multi-Year College Team
PG - Chris Paul
SG -  Dwyane Wade
SF - Rudy Gay
PF - Blake Griffin
C - Lamarcus Aldridge

All International Team
PG - Steve Nash
SG -Manu Ginobili
SF -Dirk Nowitzki
PF - Pau Gasol
C - Marc Gasol

 5 years ago, I would not have wanted any piece of the international team, but today, it's a tougher conversation. I think Howard gives the HS guys a huge edge in any matchup...

Shaka Denies Illinois

I called Shaka Smart to Illinois months ago, but apparently Smart has bigger plans in mind. Today, Smart turned down Illinois' offer to become its men's basketball coach, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

In one of the more desperate moves I have seen,  word is that Illinois is reaching out to the coach at Simeon (Derrick Rose's high school). That's right, I said HIGH SCHOOL.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/story/_/id/7718478/vcu-coach-shaka-smart-reportedly-turns-illinois

No Hoops on Today, So Let's Talk Hockey

Rivalries are awesome. Especially in hockey. Cue Michael Buffer.

Duke = Losers

1) CJ McCollum is an absolute beast.
2) Here's a little coaching lesson for Coach K: when your big man is 9-9 from the floor, you might want to get him some more shots rather than continually jacking 3 after 3.

Brian Conklin - Get a Hold of Yourself

This poor guy is now going to be forever known as the player who broke down like a little girl after losing a second round game.

Coach Rick Majerus was chowing down on a chipwich and taking this all in from his La-Z-Boy across the room. His quote afterwards, "Can this guy please graduate already. Embarrassing."

Doug Gottlieb = Clown

Everyone knows that Doug Gottlieb is one of the biggest clowns in all of sports (even if you take away the fact that he stole credit cards in college and thinks he is god's gift to basketball). If you are in the small minority who does not know this, the excerpt below from one of his ESPN chats should help inform you.

Props to "John's Mom" as well. That's hilarious.

http://deadspin.com/330803/doug-gottlieb-does-not-like-your-taunts

Fantasy Basketball: NCAA Tournament Style

For the second year in a row, I have run an NCAA Tourney-based fantasy basketball league. Each team drafts 10 players that are on teams that make the tournament. Scoring is simple: you add up scoring for your 10 players for the entire tournament - whichever team scores the most overall points wins. Below are the results of this year's draft.

The early favorite: Mike (T-Rob, MKG, Radcliff, Johnson, Miller, Leslie, Ezeli, Scott, Ware, Gardner)

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People...

Just do your best Christian Laettner impression.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204603004577269920969246672-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMDExNDAyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

Fab Melo is OUT

Syracuse center Fab Melo (Big East Defensive Player of the Year) will not participate in the 2012 NCAA tournament due to an eligibility issue.

Things just keep getting worse for the Cuse. They are toast without the Fabulous Fab in the middle. Somewhere, Carmelo Anthony is smiling, gloating at the fact that there will only be 1 Melo that brings a championship to Syracuse.

Time to load up on FSU to make the Final Four.

$1 million Bracket

Posting my bracket might invite a lot of ridicule, and if that's the case, so be it. Lots of upsets in here, but after 3 straight years of poor performing brackets, I think this is my year.

Kentucky Fans Are Diehard

It looks like some crazy Kentucky fan paid to put Anthony Davis on a billboard outside of the Superdome in New Orleans. Even though you might hate Kentucky fans, you can't deny their passion.

The True "Most Interesting Man in the World"

Rasheed. See Grantland article below.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7651790/a-los-angeles-lakers-rumor-spurs-writer-look-back-rasheed-wallace-nba-career

ACC Stereotypes

Some of this is controversial, but a lot of it is true...

Peyton Manning Has Been Released

According to ESPN, the Colts are releasing Peyton Manning.

If Manning decides to hang them up for good and gets bored, he could work part time as the Duke mascot. He has showed up to Cameron Indoor for the last several UNC-Duke games (he roots for Duke, and has thus lost all respect) and seems to fit in well with the crowd. The best part: he always seems to get his mug in pictures of Duke players getting crammed on.

Danny Green, then John Henson, and now Jim Irsay. Ouch.

                        2012                                                                                     2008

Game of the Year (To Date)

While most people were sleeping last night, I had the privilege of staying up to watch the ending of the Davidson-Western Carolina game. The highlight below does not do the game justice as Western Carolina literally hit big shot after big shot down the stretch to come back from 13 down with 2:47 left (against a team that shoots 70%+ from the line as a team) to send the game into OT. Western Carolina was playing its 4th game in 4 days and battled its way into the 2nd OT before a last second three fell short and Davidson walked away with the win. It was one of the gutsiest performances I have seen from a team that was clearly exhausted as early as the 10 minute mark in the second half.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cni2fLFtXMU

In addition to watching an exciting game, I had a double take when it appeared that Mutombo and Malone were playing for Western Carolina...
1) Upon  further review, there was a Mutombo in the game. Senior guard Harouna Mutombo (nephew of Dikembe) showed some serious game and can get into the lane and finish with ease. He doesn't have the finger wag down yet, but that should come with time.
2) Unfortunately, I just got confused about Malone. However, sophomore forward Tawaski King looks exactly like the Karl Malone guy from the Man Show. It's one of the funnier things I have seen.

Other Dunk of the Weekend: McAdoo on Duke

Danny Green would be proud.

Dunk of the Weekend: Olu Ashaolu All Over Utah

Yesterday, Olu Ashaolu did his best Vince Carter impression while posterizing some Utah player during Oregon's 94-48 drubbing of the Utes.

NCAA Hoops Transitive Property

Fans of sub-par sports teams often like to use the transitive property to justify their team's worth (or the opposing team's lack thereof). For instance, UCLA fans might say "The Bruins are better than Duke because they beat Richmond who beat Temple who beat Duke." The site below has all of your possible combinations for the 2011-2012 season. Should come in handy for trash talking during March Madness.

http://everydayactuary.wordpress.com/

Caulton Tudor Is an Ignoramus

Note: Caulton Tudor is a columnist for the Raleigh News & Observer

Before I rip into this old fart's college basketball analytical skills, I'd like to point out a few things:
1) Caulton Tudor? Really? Is this guy royalty?
2) If he is royalty, I apologize in advance and will kiss the ring. Otherwise, this geezer either needs to a) get back to his typewriter and cancel the twitter account immediately, or b) put down the hash pipe, put on his bifocals and re-watch some ACC basketball.
3) I'm guessing that this guy loves some wine and cheese. His name, his look, and his ballot all scream wine and cheese. If he has an actual vote in the All-ACC selection process, I'm applying next year.

Now, getting down to business: Tudor's All-ACC team. I'm ok with Austin Rivers, Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall. Zeller is your likely player of the year, Marshall leads the league in dimes, and Rivers has put together an impressive year and hit the biggest shot of the entire season. You know what, I'll even give him Harrison Barnes even though the guy is the most one-dimensional player (based on talent) in the ACC. But the idea of putting Seth Curry (bahahahahah - I can't even believe this clown has the gumption to mention Seth Curry in this conversation) ahead of Mike Scott is one of the most blatant examples of poor journalism that I have come across.

First, Caulton, before you go around making ignorant statements, do your homework (see below). See, in most professions, when your job is to report on something/do analysis/provide your opinion and you don't do your homework, you get fired. I'm sure you'll catch a break on this one, but it would probably be smart to correct yourself and admit that you got a little too excited about Duke and UNC since you live in the Triangle area, which is why you accidentally put Seth Curry ahead of Mike Scott for first team All-ACC.

If you want to be stubborn, here are another few pieces of info for you: UVA has been playing with 1/2 of a roster for the majority of the ACC season. KT Harrell and James Johnson transferred at Christmas and Assane Sene went down with a season-ending injury. Last week, Malcolm Brogdon went down with an injury. That leaves 7 scholarship players. With a depleted lineup, Scott has averaged over 30% of the entire team's offensive production while shooting 57% from the floor and 83% from the line. As the only real offensive weapon on the team, he has kept UVA in almost every game (2 3-pt losses against FSU, 1 3-pt loss at Duke, 1 3-pt loss vs. UNC) of the season. Meanwhile, he's grabbing nearly 8 rebounds per game for a team sitting in 4th place in the ACC.

Seth Curry has eclipsed 20 points how many times, Caulton? 2 times. Seth Curry is essentially interchangeable with another player on his own team - Andre Dawkins. Against the two best defensive teams in the league (UVA and FSU), he has notched impressive performances of 11 points, 12 points, and 7 points. And he brings nothing to the table when he isn't shooting well.  He can't pass, he can't rebound because he is one of the softest players in the country, and he could range anywhere from the 2nd to the 6th best player on his own team on any given night.

Caulton, I think it's time to hang it up, pal. It's been an ok run for you, but I think you've officially lost your marbles.

Mocking Dook Is Always Encouraged...

This isn't the best I've seen, but almost all anti-Dook material is recommended.

Shabazz Muhammad Might Be Ineligible

According to CBS, the NCAA has contacted each school recruiting the nation's top-ranked high school basketball prospect, Shabazz Muhammad, and made them aware of financial dealings that could compromise Muhammad's amateur status. I have heard that Shabazz was leaning towards UCLA and Kentucky and I'm guessing that at least one of these schools won't care.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17511404/ncaa-warns-schools-to-be-wary-over-top-recruit-muhammads-eligibility

If you've never seen or heard of Muhammad, recognize: