Tag: NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Semifinals

I find myself otherwise engaged tonight as does TheMomCat.  I’ve asked BobbyK to check in from time to time, please be nice to him and make your own fun.

My predictions so you can point and hoot are Louisville over Kentucky and Ohio State over Kansas.  I like Louisville because of their Big East connections, Ohio State I don’t like at all but I like Kansas less.

Joe Nocera wrote a piece that everyone is talking about-

Orwell and March Madness

By JOE NOCERA, The New York Times

Published: March 30, 2012

Athletes are “student-athletes,” a phrase coined by Walter Byers, the man who turned the N.C.A.A. into a modern powerhouse, because he feared that some states might try to classify football and basketball players as employees. College sports follows “the collegiate model,” a term coined in 2006 by one of Byers’ successors, Myles Brand. Realizing that amateurism was becoming outmoded, he needed a new concept that would allow athletic departments to continue exploiting athletes while denying that is what they were doing.

The essence of “the collegiate model” is that college athletes are students first, and that college athletics is secondary to academics. One can then ignore the fact that during this three-week tournament, the N.C.A.A. will reap around $800 million, while the players who make that possible will get nothing. They’re students, after all.



Calipari, complained Emmert, was “throwing away the collegiate model.” But, he’s not, because in the big-money sports of football and men’s basketball, the collegiate model is a fiction. Rather, Calipari is dispensing with the hypocrisy that everyone else goes along with, including our basketball-mad president, who allows himself to be interviewed while filling out his March Madness brackets, but can’t bring himself to utter a word on behalf of the athletes that college sports so ruthlessly exploits.

Regional Final Results-

Result Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
70-77 1 Syracuse 32-2 2 *Ohio State 28-7 East
72-68 4 *Louisville 27-9 7 Florida 23-10 West
82-70 1 *Kentucky 36-2 3 Baylor 30-8 South
67-80 1 North Carolina 32-6 2 *Kansas 31-6 Mid West

Tonight’s Action-

Time Seed Team Record Region Seed Team Record Region
6 pm 1 Kentucky 36-2 South 4 Louisville 27-9 West
8:30 2 Ohio State 28-7 East 2 Kansas 31-6 Mid West

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Regional Finals Day 2

Well, that kind of sucked the fun right out of it.  At least I got to sing Bill Orange.

Last Night’s Results-

Result Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
72-68 4 *Louisville 27-9 7 Florida 23-10 West
70-77 1 Syracuse 32-2 2 *Ohio State 28-7 East

Bear down you Bears of old Baylor U

We’re all for you, GO BEARS!

We’re gonna show dear old Baylor spirit through and through

We’re gonna fight them with all our might you Bruins bold

And win all our victories for the Green and Gold.

B-A-Y-L-O-R, Baylor Bears Fight.

Tonight’s Action-

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
2 pm CBS 1 Kentucky 35-2 3 Baylor 30-7 South
5 pm CBS 1 North Carolina 32-5 2 Kansas 30-6 Mid West

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Regional Semifinals Day 2

It’s hard to get enthused about tonight’s games.  Richard has no interest in the tournament now that MSU is out and made a point of telling me it was the worst game they played all season (I wouldn’t know).

This is the Cinderella side of the bracket and any real upsets will come tonight, but I don’t expect any.

Bear down you Bears of old Baylor U

We’re all for you, GO BEARS!

We’re gonna show dear old Baylor spirit through and through

We’re gonna fight them with all our might you Bruins bold

And win all our victories for the Green and Gold.

B-A-Y-L-O-R, Baylor Bears Fight.

Oh, and Sepang Qualifying at 4 am on Speed.

Last Night’s Results-

Result Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
64-63 1 *Syracuse 33-2 4 Wisconsin 26-9 East
44-57 1 Michigan State 29-7 4 *Louisville 28-9 West
81-66 2 *Ohio State 29-7 6 Cincinnati 26-10 East
58-68 3 Marquette 27-7 7 *Florida 25-10 West

Tonight’s Action-

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
7 pm CBS 3 Baylor 29-7 10 Xavier 23-12 South
7:30 pm TBS 1 North Carolina 31-5 13 Ohio 29-7 Midwest
9:30 pm CBS 1 Kentucky 34-2 4 Indiana 27-8 South
10 pm TBS 2 Kansas 29-6 11 NC State 24-12 Midwest

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Regional Semifinals Day 1

Saltine Warrior

In the days of old, when knights were bold

Every city had its warrior man.

In the days of new, when fights are few

You will view them from a big grandstand.

In our college town one has great renown

If the game of football he should play.

With his pig-skin ball he is cheered by all,

He’s the Saltine Warrior of today.

Chorus:

The Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,

And his weapon is a pigskin ball,

When on the field he takes a good, firm stand,

He’s the hero of large and small.

He will rush toward the goal with might and main

His opponents all fight, but they fight in vain,

Because the Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,

And victorious over all.

If you’ve never been to Syracuse you may not know it’s built over a great salt dome.  This song from 1912-13 is kind of midway between Bill Orange from 1899 and Down the Field from 1914 and was originally part of a musical, not a fight song.  Oddly enough there are no YouTubes I could find.

It’s distinctly possible that the Orange could go down tonight because they’re not that good a team and their 7 foot center, Fab Melo, is still under suspension.  Plus they’ve never, ever been able to shoot fouls in the Boeheim era.

Altogether it’s been a tough year, they’ve had a Paterno-esque molestation scandal with the assistant head coach, Boeheim has always hated his job, and they’re pulling out of the Big East because the Administration would rather have a Throwball program that sucks than a Basketball team.

They are my sentimental favorites, but you don’t bet money on sentiment.  Armando, who has been consistently wrong this season, gets to see his beloved ‘Gators go down in flames tonight so don’t expect any charity from him tomorrow.  His predictions are here.

Michigan State should advance with ease (No Troll Izzo), I’m rooting for Cincinnati over the evil Ohio State (I’m only half troll and no part Buckeye).

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
7 pm CBS 1 Syracuse 33-2 4 Wisconsin 26-9 East
7:30 pm TBS 1 Michigan State 29-7 4 Louisville 28-9 West
9:30 pm CBS 2 Ohio State 29-7 6 Cincinnati 26-10 East
10 pm TBS 3 Marquette 27-7 7 Florida 25-10 West

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 32 Day 2 Evening

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
7 pm TBS 10 South Florida 20-13 13 Ohio 27-7 Mid West
7:30 pm True 10 Xavier 21-12 15 Lehigh 26-7 South
8:30 pm TNT 2 Kansas 27-6 10 Purdue 22-12 Mid West
9:30 pm TBS 3 Florida State 25-9 6 Cincinnati 25-10 East

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 32 Day 2 Afternoon

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
Noon CBS 3 Georgetown 23-8 11 North Carolina State 23-12 Mid West
2:30 pm CBS 1 Michigan State 28-7 9 Saint Louis 25-7 West
5 pm CBS 1 North Carolina 30-5 8 Creighton 28-5 Mid West
6 pm TNT 7 Florida 23-10 15 Norfolk State 26-9 West

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 32 Day 1 Evening

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
7 pm TBS 4 Indiana 26-8 12 VCU 29-6 South
7:30 pm CBS 1 Kentucky 33-2 8 Iowa State 23-10 South
8:30 pm TNT 3 Baylor 28-7 11 Colorado 24-11 South
9:30 pm TBS 4 Louisville 27-9 5 New Mexico 28-6 West

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 64 Day 2 Evening

Seeders did a good job.  Only 2 upsets at all in the first day of play.  UConn out and sanctioned.  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted; hope you like that Throwball.

Yesterday Evening’s Results

Result Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
81-66 1 *Kentucky 33-2 16 Western Kentucky 16-19 South
59-62 5 Wichita State 27-6 12 *VCU 29-6 South
77-54 7 *Gonzaga 26-6 10 West Virginia 19-14 East
68-60 3 *Baylor 28-7 14 South Dakota State 27-8 South
77-64 8 *Iowa State 23-10 9 Connecticut 20-14 South
79-66 4 *Indiana 26-8 13 New Mexico State 26-10 South
78-59 2 *Ohio State 28-7 15 Loyola Maryland 24-9 East
64-68 6 UNLV 26-9 11 *Colorado 24-11 South

Tom Izzo is not a troll.  I studied at MSU under Falcone who thought I was hopeless and was right about that.  They held the service for my Uncle who got decapitated in a plane crash at the chapel.  Funny story that, they mis-identified the body and sent it off with another family.  When they got down to the bits and pieces they had a rib and a scrap of lung.  “Did your husband smoke?”, they asked my Aunt.  “No.”  “Then this is not him.”  When they finally got it sorted out they didn’t want her to view the body which was kind of funny because she was a biochemist working in oncology and had seen any number of cadavers.

Tonight’s Action

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
6:30 pm TBS 8 Memphis 26-8 9 Saint Louis 25-7 West
7 pm CBS 2 Duke 27-6 15 Lehigh 26-7 South
7 pm TNT 4 Michigan 24-9 13 Ohio 27-7 Mid West
7:30 pm True 7 St. Mary’s 27-5 10 Purdue 21-12 Mid West
9 pm TBS 1 Michigan State 27-7 16 LIU Brooklyn 25-8 West
9:30 pm CBS 7 Notre Dame 22-11 10 Xavier 21-12 South
9:30 pm TNT 5 Temple 24-7 12 South Florida 20-13 Mid West
10 pm True 2 Kansas 27-6 15 Detroit 22-13 Mid West

ps. Melbourne Qualifying @ 2 am.

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 64 Day 2 Afternoon

Tear up those Cinderella brackets, yesterday afternoon was a good day for the seeds- no upsets at all.

Yesterday Afternoon’s Results

Result Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
58-41 6 *Murray State 31-1 11 Colorado State 20-12 West
70-64 8 *Kansas State 22-10 9 Southern Miss 25-9 East
69-62 4 *Louisville 27-9 13 Davidson 25-8 West
73-49 4 *Wisconsin 25-9 13 Montana 12-17 East
88-68 3 *Marquette 26-7 14 BYU 26-9 West
72-65 1 *Syracuse 32-2 16 UNC Asheville 24-10 East
75-68 5 *New Mexico 28-6 12 Long Beach St. 25-9 West
79-70 5 *Vanderbilt 25-10 12 Harvard 26-5 East

Today’s Afternoon Action

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
Noon CBS 6 Cincinnati 24-10 11 Texas 20-13 East
12:30 pm True 6 San Diego St. 26-7 11 NC State 22-12 Mid West
1:30 pm TBS 8 Creighton 28-5 9 Alabama 21-11 Mid West
2 pm TNT 7 Florida 23-10 10 Virginia 22-9 West
2:30 pm CBS 3 Florida State 24-9 14 St. Bonaventure 20-11 East
3 pm True 3 Georgetown 23-8 14 Belmont 27-7 Mid West
4 pm TBS 1 North Carolina 29-5 16 Vermont 24-11 Mid West
4:30 pm TNT 2 Missouri 30-4 15 Norfolk St. 25-9 West

Hoyas

The team name is derived from the mixed Greek and Latin chant, “Hoya Saxa,” (meaning “What Rocks”) which gained popularity at the school in the late nineteenth century.

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Round of 64 Day 1 Evening

I used to sing it a capella.

So the Huskies are a 9 seed and it’s better than they deserve.  Calhoun is very ill and they’re facing 2 years of sanctions.  And they’re leaving the Big East because a mediocre Throwball team is considered more important than an Arena filling Hoopies program.

Thanks for nothing UConn.

Did I mention defending National Champions?

UConn Huskies

UConn Husky, symbol of might to the foe.

Fight, fight Connecticut, It’s vict’ry, Let’s go. (go. go. go)

Connecticut UConn Husky,

Do it again for the White and Blue

So go--go--go Connecticut, Connecticut U.

C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-C-U-T

Connecticut, Conneticut Husky, Connecticut Husky

Connecticut C-O-N-N-U!

Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
6:30 pm TBS 1 Kentucky 32-2 16 Western Kentucky 16-18 South
7 pm CBS 5 Wichita State 27-5 12 VCU 28-6 South
7 pm TNT 7 Gonzaga 25-6 10 West Virginia 19-13 East
7:30 pm True 3 Baylor 27-7 14 South Dakota State 27-7 South
9:30 pm TBS 8 Iowa State 22-10 9 Connecticut 20-13 South
9:30 pm CBS 4 Indiana 25-8 13 New Mexico State 26-9 South
9:30 pm TNT 2 Ohio State 27-7 15 Loyola Maryland 24-8 East
10 pm True 6 UNLV 26-8 11 Colorado 23-11 South

This schedule looks impossible to me but I have 2 sources.

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