It's Tourney Time, Baby!

  This is the weekend when a number of non-Power 5 conferences have their conference tournaments while the big boys end the seemingly unending regular season. This is a time when automatic bids are earned and a lot of marginal teams begin to sweat their chances to advance to the Big Dance. 

We know that the Power 5 leagues will once again dominate the minds of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Selection Committee. In many instances, that is a logical way to proceed.

However, those on the committee must not forget the runs of the eventual champion University of Connecticut, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Miami and San Diego State University in the previous tournament. That would be a #4 seed (UConn); two #5 seeds (UM and SDSU); and a #9 seed (FAU). If they want to make a truly competitive tournament, then deference must be given to champions and other teams from conferences like the Sun Belt, WAC and Ivy League—these teams can flat out play and the Power 5 schools tend to avoid playing those conferences lest they are upset and suffer a Quad 2 or 3 loss and damage their resume. 

I look at a one school conference like the America East Conference and see perennial league power Vermont atop the regular season standings. Last season the Catamounts were a #15 seed and gave Marquette a battle in the opening round. This year, UVM has a win over Ivy League co-leader Yale and some close losses to good mid-major teams. Without winning the tournament, they go home. And even if UVM does make it to the Dance, will they be sequestered in a #15 slot again despite a 28-6 record. 

The same applies to High Point of the Big South; Charleston of the Colonial Athletic; Oakland out of the Horizon League;  Sam Houston in Conference USA; Quinnipiac from the MAAC; Akron in the MAC; SoCon’s Samford; 28-3 Mc Neese State, the runaway champ in the Southland; and the leaders in the Big Sky, Big West, Northeast and Ohio Valley Conferences among others—win or go home.  Not that any of these schools realistically has a shot at the title, but great seasons can only end up in the National Invitational Tournament, which is on its last legs. 

It gets complicated with other conferences. Let’s start with the Ivy League. For much of the regular season, Cornell, Princeton and Yale have been in a dead heat for the lead. Princeton has put together a stellar 23-3 record, even if the losses all came in league play and the non-conference schedule was not extraordinarily challenging. Remember that the Tigers beat #2 seed Arizona and #7 Missouri before falling to Creighton in last year’s Sweet Sixteen. 

Yale and Cornell did not fare particularly well versus better programs —should that be held against the as both teams did not suffer more than eight losses should either win the league playoff? No one expected much from Princeton—and how did that work out?

Moreover, if Princeton was to lose to either school and not win the Ivy automatic bid, should they not receive strong consideration for an at-large berth which might normally go to a team which finished atop above .500 in a power conference? If track records speak for themselves, then Princeton could make it into the tournament—as a regular seed or in a play-in game.

I have been following James Madison University. Coming off a marvelous season in football and making a bowl game, the Dukes have starred in the Sun Belt Conference while amassing a 28-3 record. The problem for JMU is that Appalachian State went 16-2 in the league with a 26-5 record, one game ahead of its rival and earning the conference tournament top seed. ASU defeated JMU twice. JMU won its opener on the road at Michigan State, a team on the ropes for selection into the Dance.

So what to do if JMU loses one more time to App State? Are they relegated to the NIT while Michigan State makes the NCAA’s? I hope not. 

While FAU finished second in the AAC to South Florida, both schools merit a place in the tournament. Is the Atlantic 10 a three team invite with Richmond, Loyola and Dayton? Does the strength of the Missouri Valley Conference allow for Indiana State, Drake and Bradley all to go? Ditto in the Mountain West with Utah State, Nevada and Boise State?

Is the venerable ACC only going to send its historically best schools—Duke and North Carolina—or do overrated schools like UVA, Pitt, Clemson and Syracuse get nods instead of somebody from a lesser conference? Could the Big 12 send as many as eight schools? Should Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s and Rick Pitino and Villanova receive more appreciation?

What about the Big Ten? Is Purdue really a top seed? Look at their post-season record and it is evident that they receive too much credit. Eight schools from the Big Ten are too many. In its last run in the NCAA’s, the Pac-12 should only send three teams, although Oregon at 11-8 is going to get a big look see. No more than six from the SEC, please, while Mississippi State, Texas A&M and LSU are lurking dangerous close to .500 in league play. And please consider Santa Clara from the WCC to join St. Mary’s, Gonzaga and San Francisco. 

There are only 68 slots to be filled. Nothing I have laid out accounts for the biggest wild card of them all. Upsets in confidence tournaments. Those happenings wreak havoc and end up excluding teams which, other face, would normally be worthy of a spot in the draw. 

I have heard talk of expanding the size of the field. How the NCAA would go about that is unclear. Would teams on the bubble have a better opportunity to receive a place in the Big Dance? Would the big boys once more receive greater preference or will the smaller guys actually get seat at the men’s basketball table? No matter what, there always will be some team left out in the cold, with an aggrieved fan section.  

In about a week, we will have the field. Will it be replete with surprises or just have the usual suspects in the usual places, over seeded and ready to fail once more? Or is that the beauty of the flawed being known as the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship?

Staying with the money maker known as collegiate basketball, little did my wife, two college friends and I have an idea that seeing Penn defeat Dartmouth would have some meaning later this year. These two teams finished far behind their Ivy League brethren. 

But that’s not the real story. The Dartmouth team has voted to form the first labor union for college athletes. A lot has to happen to make this a reality. When it does, the entire landscape of college athletics will change. As will the NCAA, if that organization survives the pillory at the hands of the SEC and Big Ten in football. 

When Northwestern football players unsuccessfully tried to unionize, their failure was scoffed at. Now, more than likely, we observers of collegiate sports are at the precipice of something huge, with undetermined outcomes. This story bears close watching as it unfolds. 

For now, we have basketball on our radar. Whether it is setting the DIII Final Four (Hampden-Sydney plays Guilford and Trinity and Trine tangle on the men’s side while NYU goes against Transylvania and Smith and Wartburg meet on the women’s side) or watching the conferences determine champions for men and women, there is no more exciting time for college athletics. 

Sure, the Boston Celtics hit a rough patch in losing two straight to Cleveland, after blowing a 22 point fourth quarter lead, and then to Denver with Nikola Jokic just dominant for the defending champs. And sure, Steph Curry rolled another ankle late in the season, jeopardizing the Warriors chances to make the playoffs. And yes, the Yankees’ season opener is less than three weeks away.

So what. It is tourney time, baby!

Baskets And Other Things

  I have been lax discussing college basketball. My cousin dissed me fro not talking me about UConn hoops—men’s and women’s. My college roommate always chides me about more over that subject. My former Rabbi chastises me over North Carolina basketball and Duke. 

I admit that college basketball hasn’t been the first thing on my sports radar this winter. The NBA has taken up much of my time. And that is where I am going to leadoff this blog. 

In the last week or more I have gotten to see many of the so-called marquee teams. The frontrunners—Boston, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Denver. The second tier—New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Milwaukee. Plus those which are on the fringe: Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State and Dallas. 

While games can be entertaining among the aforementioned teams, there is a wide gulf between the lower and middle rungs and even more so with the elite teams. To me, there are two teams which are set apart from the remainder of the league: Boston and Denver. I have my doubts about everyone else. 

There is certainly a buzz around some of the contenders. Minnesota has been leading the Western Conference almost all season; I just don’t think they have the personnel to win it all. Oklahoma City seems to be better in the West—the young talent is enormous—but will the lack of experience hurt their chances? Sacramento is an enigma—I thought they would have progressed more.

Cleveland falls into the same category as OKC—talented but not proven. Milwaukee needed a coaching change to make headway—will that be enough? Philadelphia goes as Joel Embiid goes—and he’s still injured. New York now has Jalen Brunson hurt along with Julius Randle—their two most important pieces; another season of not enough at MSG. 

Golden State and the Lakers have been paying well lately. Except that the Warriors and Lakers could not fend off the Nuggets and Boston blew GSW out on Sunday in a near-record performance. 

Boston has a lineup similar to the glory days—player after player who can flat out play. There is a reason the Celtics have lost only 12 games thus far—they are that good. 

Denver has arguably the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic. When paired upon with Jamal Murray on the pick and roll, it is a lethal combination. The remainder of the lineup is full of good shooters and highly competent defenders. 

So unless a team emerges from nowhere, or significant injuries impact the remainder of the schedule, expect to see the Celtics and Nuggets vying for the title. It might be that simple. 

Has anyone noticed that the Florida Panthers have passed Boston, the New York Rangers and Vancouver for the most points in the NHL? It wasn’t a fluke last season when the Panthers unceremoniously dumped the record-setting Bruins out of the playoffs in the first round before losing in the Stanley Cup Finals to Vegas. 

It would be folly for me at this time to pick who will make the Finals this season. The Devils, last year’s upset darlings, are on the verge of not making it to the playoffs. Even with Auston Matthews goal sniping, Toronto doesn’t seem to have enough, to the unforgiving dismay of Leafs fans. The thought of an all-Canadian Toronto-Edmonton Finals with Matthews and Connor Mc David facing each other sounds too good to be true. Really.

Remember—all it takes is a hot goalie to carry a team. Experience and talent helps too. More on hockey in another blog. 

Besides watching a ton of televised sports, I went to two distinctly different events. On Saturday, I took my wife and daughter to a quad men’s gymnastics meet at Rutgers involving RU, Cornell, West Chester and Ursinus. A small but enthusiastic crowd watched the four teams rotate between beam, bars, floor and vault. 

What we saw was mid-level college gymnastics. Rutgers is ranked #44—a far cry from what is shown on ESPN with the top teams like Oklahoma, Michigan, LSU, Florida and more. Cornell and West Chester are ranked in the 60 range and Ursinus, a DIII school, is sequestered at #78. 

The scores are in the upper 9’s for many of the athletes. No one could possibly score a 10.00 as I saw with Oklahoma. Nor is there a sellout  with cheerleaders and a pep band like my daughter witnessed when she saw Arkansas match with LSU in Baton Rouge.

Nonetheless, they pushed themselves and the team crowded around each performer after a competed routine. It was fun—college sport at its purest. 

On Sunday, we traveled to Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair to see my F&M Diplomats play the Red Hawks. Montclair State won both games; the umpiring in Game 1 didn’t benefit the visitors, resulting in plays which allowed MSU to score the two runs it needed to win. 

F&M may be 0-5, but the talent is there. Conversely, MSU is 5-1 and looked more polished and confident. It will be interesting to see where the teams end up at the end of the season. One thing for certain—the weather was beautiful—70 degrees on March 3rd is a real blessing in the Northeast. 

The Sweet 16 is set in Division III men’s and women’s basketball. The NESCAC has three schools still in the hunt on the men’s side—Williams is there and Tufts and Trinity play each other in the next game. The ODAC has its top two schools alive in highly-ranked Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney (along with leading the tournament in hyphens). And the UAA has Washington (Mo.) and Case Western still playing. 

There are a lot more hyphenated schools which made the Women’s Sweet 16. NYU is the top seed. There are three Wisconsin schools in the next round—Oshkosh, Stout and Whitewater. NESCAC schools Bates and Bowdoin are prominent. 

A Final Four will  be set next weekend for both draws. Only one school has more Hope than others in each bracket—because Hope College has its teams still trying to move forward.

As for the D-I women—it was all about Caitlin Clark again. The Iowa star set the all-time scoring record for men and women, passing the legendary Pete Maravich. While Clark is a phenomen who will take her talents to the WNBA next year, she is simply not anything like Maravich. Had he been able to shoot three-point shots, his record would have been untouchable.

With the men, I have seen UConn, Purdue, Houston, Tennessee and North Carolina recently. All legitimate title contenders. But I am not sure each will even win their conference tournaments let alone the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina had enough trouble with NC State on Saturday—the Wolfpack look like a NIT team. And yes, cousin, UConn should have routed Seton Hall. It is really hard to repeat. Houston has injuries. Purdue is a Big Ten team. Tennessee is enigmatic. I argue that any Top 20 team could win this year—nobody sets themselves so far apart from their brethren. 

The fun will be watching the lower-seeded teams rise up to defeat the big boys. It happened last year and it could easily occur this year. After Princeton’s performance last tourney, it would be a horrible shame if the Ivy League is limited to just one school—the Tigers have only 3 losses in 2023-24 yet are tied with Yale and Cornell at the top of the standings. 

South Carolina remains undefeated and atop the women’s leaderboard. Watch for Stanford and Ohio State to be there near the end. I don’t see Clark and Iowa making a run, nor LSU, last season’s winner. 

I will mention that the most expected retirement in the NFL occurred with Jason Kelce’s announcement on Monday. Of course his brother Travis was there—not in Singapore like some misinforming Facebook posts have said. I don’t think Taylor Swift would have wanted it any other way. The Eagles will miss his locker room presence—they have able replacements to fill his large shoes.

It is still exhibition season in Florida and Arizona. But it is now just over three weeks until the regular season begins in earnest. The Dodgers and Padres meet in two games on March 20 & 21 in Seoul, South Korea to whet baseball fans’ appetites.

It is too early for me to get excited over the Yankees. At my age, I temper my enthusiasm. A nice meal has more panache. 

Baskets and other things. A great segue into March.

Let's Get It Right Out There!

  Here it  is the end of February, and  so much in the sports world is in flux. The NFL is partially asleep right now, in its off season. Baseball has just begun its exhibition games. Hockey is in its run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NBA is muddling along to its playoffs, with so many playoff slots undecided. 

College basketball is heading towards the conference championships in Division I; the conference tournament winners in Division III has been decided; and the DIII NCAA tournament begins this week. Yet collegiate ice hockey, wrestling and gymnastics continue while sports such as tennis, baseball, lacrosse and outdoor track are already into their seasons. 

It is college basketball where I begin. Winston-Salem, North Carolina to be exact. Duke, long the bane of the ACC schools in basketball due to its success under Mike Krzyzewski, its Hall Of Fame coach, along with the arrogance of its student body, was playing at member school Wake Forest, the other private university in North Carolina. After arch rival North Carolina, it is Wake which Duke has played the most. Since 1949-50, Duke is 126-59 versus the Demon Deacons. 

As in other years, Duke is highly ranked—they were #7 heading into Saturday’s game. Wake wasn’t terrible—17-9—and in fourth place in the conference. It was a Saturday afternoon and the students were primed.

Wake needed a quality win to bolster its resume when the NCAA Selection Committee starts to evaluate teams qualifications for the field of 68. While among its nine losses were games against North Carolina, Virginia and Duke—all ahead of the Deacons in the standings—there were a few bad losses and no real quality Quad 1 wins. 

A win over Duke would make a statement to the Committee. Which is what happened. But that is not the story. 

Instead, the frenzy which followed is an all-too-familiar scene—whether it is on a football field or basketball court. The students felt it is was their right to spam the floor to celebrate with their team—it happened when Ohio State beat Caitlin Clark  and Iowa; and on Thursday when LSU won on a last second basket to defeat long-time SEC force Kentucky; amongst the joyous throng was women’s basketball star April Reese. 

In the Clark incident, she was run into and seemed stunned and possibly hurt. There was indignation over this scene, but security really hasn’t been tightened. 

Thing were different this time. Kyle Filipowski, a possible top ten NBA lottery pick in the next draft, wanted to get off the court, away from the celebrants. Except he couldn’t. He was run into by a taunting Wake Forest fan, injuring his knee and ankle. The severity hasn’t been disclosed. 

First, I hope that Filipowski recovers to play again and lead Duke this season. But I hold the Wake Forest athletic department and the ACC responsible for this incident. When will it stop? When somebody is severely injured and the subsequent lawsuits hit a school and conference where it hurts the most—in the wallet? 

What would have happened if Clark—arguably among the best ever to play on the women’s side—or Filipowski, a top tier men’s player this season—had their careers ended? While these euphoric spectacles look great on TV—I have been to one at Rutgers when the Scarlet Knights topped Louisville on national television—a lot of bad things can happen. 

I was at a Rutgers-Colgate game in my youth when the fans ran onto the field after the game ended, tearing down the goalposts. They were solid wood, and when they fell, there were jagged edges, I saw some revelers with blood from the resulting celebration. 

Something has to be done to end this riotous behavior. And it must be done now. The NCAA, losers in court this week about Name, Image and Likeness and suffering loss after loss in the judicial and intercollegiate worlds, must ensure that this behavior does not permeate the upcoming tournament. The organization has the resources to make this happen. As long as the NCAA still has power—that’s story for another time. 

However, not all colleges and universities are willing and able to devote money to stopping this long-standing “tradition.” Employ more security, including police officers. Use TV footage to prosecute fans, akin to what the Justice Department did to the January 6th invaders of the Capitol. Make it ironclad and clear during pre-game and end of game announcements that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and could result in prosecution—even if the crime is merely trespassing. The person who ran into Filapowski looked to have an intent to injure—a mens rea if you would; that is the perfect time to show that this kind of action is illegal. 

Buying a ticket to a game does not give the fan the right to go onto the playing surface—at any time. Booing and name-calling, as vile and abhorrent as it has become, is an unfortunately accepted part of the game. Good sportsmanship be damned, I guess. 

Substantial fines to schools which continue to permit this aberrant conduct may help a bit. Threatening to place the school on probation and banning the teams from the post-season might possibly get an administration to act in a prophylactic manner. Whatever measures help post-game civility are fine. 

Measures designed to prevent all activity after games are necessary. Look at the major brawl which erupted at the conclusion of the Texas A&M-Commerce and University of Incarnate World basketball game this week. A young girl and a student manager were injured. 

The schools denounced this heinous event, which should be condemned no matter the trigger for the melee, which broke into clusters of players  and lasted for a while. Those who participated will be disciplined—suspensions may not be enough here. Collegiate careers need to be on the line—both athletically and academically. 

At the high school level, we have repeatedly seen instances of this type of activity, where  fans empty from the stands and start to fight. Referrals to local authorities have resulted. 

Thankfully, no guns of knives have been used. This is not to say that such mob-like behavior would not take off, using things in the area as armaments. Again, I refer back to January 6th and how many U.S. Capital Police officers were injured or died. 

We are a society of laws. Rules are there to be followed—for the protection of the people. While some laugh at the saying “Rules are meant to be broken”, rules and dictates about fan behavior should be observed and followed. If we want the games to continue—then root for your team and scream your head off in exaltation if you wish—just stay in the stands where you belong.

Do we need to return to the early days of college basketball—when wire mesh encircled the court to protect spectators from players going for loose balls and to protect them from over-eager fans? This is why basketball players are sometimes referred to as cagers. 

Our society is in turmoil for many reasons. But there is no political reasons to oppose ending this craziness aligned with sporting events—now. 

It may be a bit late for Clark and Filipowski or the non-combatants in Texas. Let’s get it right out there!