March Madness NCAA Tournament

I just finished reading Guardians of the Game "A Legacy of Leadership". Dr. Naismith invented the game but it was the man from Kansas, Phog Allen who was behind coaching it. The book profiles the games greatest coaches & highlights their incredible impact on college basketball. Phog Allen, John Wooden, Big House Gaines, Dean Smith, Bobby Knight and Coach K are a few of the names you might recognize but there were so many others who influenced the game and this book tells you all about it. In Guardians of the Game, you can read the real story behind the rules committee decision to ... Read Full Story

March Madness seemed a little less mad this year, or at the very least the brackets did. A lot of mediocre teams from big conferences made it in this year which means trying to pick upsets less fun. At least that was until yesterday’s Pardon the Interruption started calling for Congressional investigation into the NCAA for favoring major conferences over small ones. Hopefully when the tournament we do get some exciting games, but the tournament selection really robbed us of man y potential Davidson like runs this year. Now keep in mind you may be better off taking the advice of your little sister, ... Read Full Story

The first two rounds are over, along with the upset watches, the Cinderella teams, and the four days of endless basketball. Now the campaign for the championship kicks into high gear. This is what's known as the "Sweet Sixteen," as in there are 16 teams left to duke it out (not included Duke, because they're out). UCLA coach Ben Howland said it best: There are no more upsets after the first two rounds. Any team can beat anyone else at this point. With that said, there are a few rules to know about the March Madness end-game. 1. Double-digit seeds lose. The first few ... Read Full Story

Higher seeds won out on the first day of March Madness, the lone exceptions were Kansas State's take down of sixth-seeded Southern California and ninth-seeded Texas A&M's 67-62 win over eighth-seeded BYU. But the day was not without its excitement or scares for the top teams. Second seeded Duke survived 15th seeded Belmont's bid to be only the fifth team to take down a two seed, winning 71-70 when the Bruin's Justin Hare's 35-footer hit back iron at the buzzer. Duke sophomore guard Gerald Henderson led the Blue Devils' attack with 21 points, none bigger than his game-winning layup with 11 seconds left. Bruin ... Read Full Story

  Uh oh.  We're one day away from the March Madness doomsday scenario:  All one-seeds in the Final Four.  With UCLA and North Carolina winning today, half the round of four is set and it's all top seeds.  First-seeded teams have never all advanced to the last week in the NCAA Tournament.  It goes against the upset ethos of the games.         Top seed UCLA snapped out of its funk and dominated Xavier after squeaking out wins in the previous two rounds, and North Carolina won a fast paced game over Louisville in impressive fashion behind 28 points from Tyler Hansbrough .  The ... Read Full Story

We'll it's happened.  All four number one seeds advanced to the Final Four for the first time ever.  And while some may complain it's less interesting without a Cinderella team, or even somewhat of an underdog, these were clearly the best teams in the country.  The champions of Conference USA, the ACC, the Pac-10 and Big 12 are represented with a combined record of 143-9, making up the most competitive and highest-quality Final Four in recent memory.         The tournament darling (10) Davidson took on (1) Kansas in the second game of the day.  Davidson had beaten (2) Georgetown and (3) Wisconsin on ... Read Full Story

After suffering through repeated blowouts in the last two rounds, fans had to wait until the Championship to see two teams worthy of each other play. And what a spectacle it was. In an incredible finish to an unforgettable March Madness, Kansas' Mario Chalmers hit a contested three with 2.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. From there it was Jayhawks as they took advantage of a shell-shocked Memphis team, scored the first three buckets and never looked back. Chalmers' shot capped an incredible comeback by Kansas, who were down 9 with 2:12 remaining before a series of key steals, big shots ... Read Full Story

Here's the final go'round for the 2008 tourney. March Madess is upon us... Here is the 2008 bracket . The number one seeds went to Kansas, UCLA, UNC, and Memphis. Read Full Story

Missouri plays beautiful basketball. To me, they play hoops the way it was meant to be played, with intuition, analysis and panache. Watching Missouri play basketball is like watching a great rugby match or the Spanish national team play futbol : There is great passion and energy, constant movement and the altruistic willingness to share the ball. You would think Missouri's full-court press and run-and-gun would result in lots of turnovers, but the Tigers take care of the ball. And they smother opponents even when they're not pressing. They constantly sub to keep themselves in peak condition. They are lead by the hustle, versatility ... Read Full Story

In the highest quality Final Four seen in years, Memphis and Kansas rose to surprisingly easy victories against UCLA and North Carolina. Memphis seemed to improve throughout the tournament and entered the UCLA game on a tear. After squeaking out victories in the first and second round, the Tigers turned it up with a solid win over fifth seeded Michigan State and a dominating performance against a very good Texas team. UCLA had a rockier road to their Saturday game. They hung on to win close games against Texas A&M and Western Kentucky in the second and third rounds of the tournament, but in ... Read Full Story