Hearty Souls Are Rewarded as Hofstra Defeats Drexel

Oh the weather outside was frightful, but for Hofstra fans inside, the basketball was delightful. In front of a very small group of dedicated fans who braved a blizzard outside, last night the Pride defeated the Dragons 75-64.

Tieff picked me up in the Big Red machine, aka his Dodge Durango and off we went to the game. The drive in wasn't too bad. The Southern State was in decent shape at the time. When we got to the Mack Center via the Charles Lindbergh Blvd entrance, we wondered if the game was still on. The parking lots were empty sans snow plows removing the snow. We drove around and saw that everyone was basically parked in front of the Mack Center. And we could see people inside, though there were very few.

The official game attendance lists 893. I think that was due in large part to the number of scholar athletes given special recognition at halftime for having above a 3.0 last semester (there were a lot and Tieff I believe that it doubled the attendance). Let me tell you, when Tieff and I walked in 12 minutes before the game, it seemed like there was only 100 in attendance. We ran into Dr. J there at the entrance and he gave us the scoop. Too difficult to reschedule the game, Drexel was already here and the refs had been here since 11:00 am. Thus game on. The first floor concessions stand was closed, so we had to go down to the lower level concessions stand to get our standard fare - pretzel with cheese and iced tea (Tieff had water).

The picture at the beginning shows how few people were there at the start of the game. But there was a late arriving crowd, especially the student section. And I have to give the student section a lot of credit. They made up most of the crowd and they did their best to cheer on the Pride. They also would direct a lot of comments to Drexel Coach Bruiser Flint and Bruiser would give them a lot of ammunition on the night.

And they got rewarded as Hofstra finally got its first win this season against a team in the top half of the CAA. The game started very similar, eerily in fact to Saturday's game against Northeastern. Hofstra started out on a 10-2 run as Charles Jenkins would score eight of those points (a precursor to the rest of the evening for Jenkins).

Like Northeastern did on Saturday, Drexel would comeback with a run of its own. A 9-0 Dragons run put them up 11-10. Then things got ugly. Real ugly. Over the next six minutes, the teams would combine to score ten points on 4 of 18 shooting with four turnovers. The score with less than six minutes left was 16-15 Drexel. Ugh.

But things got interesting once Chaz Williams' three pointer put Hofstra up 18-16 with 5:52 left. It was like the scoring flood gates had opened. Including the Williams three pointer, over the rest of the first half the teams combined to score as many as points as they did in 15 minutes, 31 points. After four three throws by the Dragons' Leon Spencer and Chris Fouch tied the game at 20 with 4:56 left, Hofstra would outscore Drexel 15-7 the rest of the half. Charles Jenkins would have 16 points in the half for Hofstra.

The first half ended on a very interesting play. Chaz Williams was fouled on a layup at the buzzer. Both teams ran off the court, sans Williams, who knew he was fouled. As two refs reviewed the play to see if the shot got off before the buzzer, the other ref talked to Bruiser (as pictured on the left). The two refs signaled the shot was good and gave Williams the ball to shoot the free throw. As they were doing this, Bruiser was still talking to the other referee. The other two refs ended up having to shoo Bruiser off the court so Williams could shoot the free throw. It was pretty comical.

It was late in the first half that Drexel would suffer a huge blow. Freshman guard Chris Fouch, who buried Hofstra in the first game they played with 29 points, dislocated his left shoulder on a play and had to be helped off the court. His arm was in a sling in the second half and there is no word yet on how long he is out. But suffice to say, it's not good for Drexel fans.

The second half would start right where the first half left off. Jenkins scored the first five points on a three pointer and a layup and Hofstra was up 40-27. Bruiser was very upset (ok, Bruiser was upset the entire night) and immediately called timeout. It briefly helped the Dragons as Samme Givens had a three point play to cut the lead to ten, 40-30. But Hofstra would then go on a 15-5 run to put the Pride up 55-35 with 13:31 left.

Drexel would make things interesting as they answered with a 15-4 run to make the score 59-50 with 4:49 left as the Pride went cold from the field and actually even went into a stall. But the Pride would answer with four free throws to go back up thirteen, 63-50 and Drexel would only get as close as ten the rest of the way.

It was not a pretty game by any means. Certainly not from a shooting standpoint. Drexel shot 31 percent for the game, including 1 of 9 from beyond the arc as they sorely missed the injured Fouch. Hofstra wasn't much better as the Pride shot 35 percent from the field, including 6 of 17 from beyond the arc.

This would explain the ton of rebounds in the game as Hofstra outrebounded Drexel 53-46. There were also a lot of fouls. How many? Well both teams made 25 free throws from the charity stripe (Drexel 25 of 36 , Hofstra 25 of 38).

There were bright sides to the game. For Hofstra, Charles Jenkins rebounded from a poor performance against Northeastern. After the game against the Huskies, Tom Pecora challenged Jenkins to take 20 plus shots. Jenkins responded to the challenge by taking 26 field goal attempts, hitting eleven, including four three pointers. Jenkins would have 32 points on the night.

Chaz Williams played Robin to Jenkins' Batman by scoring 20 points, adding 8 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists (with only one turnover).
For Drexel, Jamie Harris had 19 points and Samme Givens had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Now when you have a small crowd at a game like this you can hear everything. Several years ago, when the Montreal Expos were still the Expos (and not yet the Nationals) and were playing in Olympic Stadium, the roof collapsed in the stadium towards the end of the season. The Expos had to play all their remaining home games on the road.

Well, they ended up having to play a series at Shea Stadium against the Mets, who were horrible at the time. Since the series was last minute, there was basically just walk up tickets sales. Tieff, Tony Bozzella and I went to the game and we had seats behind home plate. There had to be 1,000 people in the stands at most. You could hear everything. And every player could hear every comment the fans yelled out (even us).

Well, that's what it was like last night. And you also heard every comment either Bruiser Flint or Tom Pecora yelled out. Let's just say a lot can not be repeated in front of children. But it gets better. A fan sitting three rows in front of us got on one of the officials after he called an offensive foul on Nathaniel Lester (and correctly so, Lester elbowed the Drexel player in the face as he drove to the basket). In fact you can see the official here, his back is facing the camera.

Well, I did say you could hear everything. And after a couple of seconds of hearing it from the fan, he turns around and says to the fan "Did you see him hit the guy in the face?"

I was sitting with Tieff, as well as my long time friend and former boss, Howard Graves, who was sitting two rows behind me with his wife Nora. We all looked at each other in complete disbelief. As you may or may not know, it is not common place for officials to interact with fans, certainly not upset fans. For some reason, probably because I figured he could hear me too, I yelled back to the official "You are supposed to ignore the fans!"

But the reason to go to the game last night was Bruiser Flint. Over the years, the Hofstra student section has generally chanted the "Sit Down and Shut Up" or a variation of it to generally one man. Bruiser Flint. Always animated. Always amusing. Flint could by yelling at one of his players to "Go cover the __in ball" during the inbounds play, or being completely frustrated at one of his players for not playing defense. Then there is Bruiser working the officials all night long. Or there is the classic Bruiser stomp/fist pump when his team doesn't execute a play. And of course there was the aforementioned play at the end of the first half.

Tieff is always amazed at how Bruiser gets away with the way he talks to officials at times. But to this writer, Bruiser is one of the most interesting coaches there is. He is simply fun to watch. And when you have two teams struggling to hit a basket like last night, Coach Flint is a welcome distraction. There were several points during the game last night where I was trying to catch him in a very animated moment with my camera. In fact, he is probably responsible for my batteries running out at the end of the game last night.

But try as Bruiser did, he couldn't coach his team to a victory. Jenkins and Williams were too much for the Dragons. Hofstra got its first win against a top six team in the CAA (the Pride were 0-8 prior to the win). The Pride are now firmly entrenched in seventh place with a 6-8 record, two games better than eighth place Georgia State.

Drexel is now 8-5 in the CAA and has fallen into a three way tie for fourth place with VCU and William and Mary. Right now, if the season ended today, the Tribe would finish fourth based on a 3-1 record vs. the Dragons and the Rams. The Rams would be fifth because their record is 1-2 vs the Dragons and the Tribe. The Dragons would be sixth due their 1-3 record against the Rams and the Tribe. However VCU still has a home game vs. Drexel and that game may have huge tiebreaker implications.

As Tieff and I left the arena, we came smack out into perhaps the worst part of yesterday's snowstorm. The arena outside walkway which was clear when we went in, was now covered with several inches of snow two plus hours later. Cars got stuck trying to get out of their parking space. The roads that had been halfway decent two hours prior were now dangerous to drive. In fact, we passed a car that got stuck in an embankment on Hempstead Turnpike east by the Coliseum.

It was a rough ride home. But the ride didn't seem to bother us. For when you get to see a home win, especially one over a pretty good team plus the entertaining Bruiser Flint, even the worst snowstorms seem like flurries.

Pride Will Win

Jenkins has 30 points. Pride up 72-57 with 1:04 left.

Pride Up Thirteen

63-50 with 3:14 left.

Pride Up Seventeen

7:47 left in the game, Pride up 58-41. When Drexel is off, Drexel is off. Jenkins having another good night for Hofstra.

Wow

Pride putting a whupping on the Dragons. Hofstra leads 55-37 with 11:43 left in the game. Chris Fouch has not played at all in the 2nd half for Drexel.

Pride Up Thirteen

A quick 5-0 run by the Pride puts Hofstra up 40-27 with 19:01 left in the game. Bruiser immediately calls timeout for Drexel.

Pride Up By Eight at Half

A 3 point play by Chaz Williams ends an interesting first half. Hofstra leads Drexel 35-27. You have refs interacting with upset fans and Bruiser Flint being Bruiser Flint. On Williams three point play at the buzzer, no one realized the one ref called a foul except Williams. As two refs reviewed the play to see if the shot got off before the buzzer, the other ref talked to Bruiser. They ended up having to shoo Bruiser off the court so Williams could shoot the free throw. Hilarious!

Pride Up On Dragons

Hofstra 24 Drexel 20 with 3:54 left in the first half. Bruiser is in form tonight. #caa #caahoops

An Ugly Game So Far

If you were looking for offense, this is NOT the game for you. Drexel 16 Hofstra 14 with 7:46 left first half.

Drexel Up on Hofstra

9:43 left first half, Drexel up 14-12. Hofstra in serious scoring drought.

Hofstra Up Early

10-7 with 15:35 left. Late arriving crowd. I would say about 250 people here now.

Game is On

It's Drexel vs. Hofstra with 100 of their closest friends in attendance. Yup, that's the number of people here at the Mack. Live updates to follow.

"Kiss of Death Gary" Jinxes Wichita State and VCU. Meanwhile, Drexel and Hofstra Play in a Blizzard?

So I put up my most recent Mid Majors Baker's Dozen yesterday. Well, leave it to me, "Kiss of Death Gary", to jinx two teams in that countdown, Wichita State and VCU.

First, Wichita State basically killed ANY hope for an at large by losing to Valley cellar dweller Evansville yesterday 65-62. The Shockers led by one, 20-19 with 4:36 left before the Purple Aces ended the half on an 11-0 run. The Shockers were down by as many as twelve in the second half and by ten points, 59-49 with 3:59 left before they went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to one with seven seconds left on three Clevin Hannah free throws after he was fouled attempting a three pointer. But Evansville's Colt Ryan sealed Wichita State's fate with two free throws for the upset win.

That was Evansville's first win in conference all season. Ugh. The loss to the Aces rendered the Shockers' Bracketbuster game vs. Utah State useless. You can't lose to a team with an Insider RPI of 262, especially when it's their first win in conference all season and expect an at large bid. Wichita State now has to win Arch Madness to get to the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile on ESPNU in Fairfax, Virginia, VCU managed to blow a fifteen point second half lead and lose to George Mason 82-77 in overtime. I went to visit a friend in Astoria last night, so I recorded the game but have yet to watch it (I will sometime today). But I was curious to see how VCU lost, and since AP recaps don't give you the whole story, I reviewed the play by play.

When you review the play by play, three things stood out. The first thing was the nearly six and half minutes between the 18:54 mark when the Rams went up by 15, 43-28 and the 12:22 mark, when the Patriots cut the lead to four, 49-45. During that time, VCU missed two free throws and committed four turnovers while Mason shot 7 of 12 from the field. That obviously got Mason back into the game and hang around to tie at the end of regulation.

Another key play was when Larry Sanders picked up his third personal foul with 5:45 left in the game. He then bumped the Patriots Luke Hancock after committing the foul and drew a technical foul, which also results in being his fourth personal foul. That will come in huge at the end of regulation.

The third thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was with twelve seconds left with VCU up two the Rams T.J. Gwynn missed the second of two free throws. That meant Mason only needed a two pointer or in Cam Long's case, two free throws with four seconds left to tie. If Gwynn had hit the second free throw, the Patriots would either have needed a three to tie, or get a two pointer and then commit another foul to get the ball back. Gwynn missing the second free throw also resulted in Long drawing the fifth personal foul on Sanders. Without their leading scorer in overtime, the Rams were doomed to lose.

Not only did I jinx VCU, I also jinxed Larry Sanders too. Yesterday I noted that "Larry Sanders is making a serious push for CAA Player of the year." So not only did Sanders foul out yesterday, the first time he did that all season, he also only had four rebounds and one block, well below his season averages in both categories (he did have 13 points, 2 under his season average). So I must be a walking SI cover.

The loss really hurt VCU in the standings. The Rams are now two games behind Mason and ODU in the loss column for second, three behind Northeastern for first place. And with wins by Drexel and William and Mary tonight, VCU will be one game behind Drexel for the all important fourth and final first round bye spot in the CAA tournament and tied for fifth with the Tribe.

But if the aforementioned scenario plays out and if the season ends with Drexel fourth and VCU/W&M tied for fifth, it gets even worse for the Rams. Due to CAA tiebreaker procedures, based on their records vs Drexel, VCU would technically be sixth in the CAA standings since W&M swept Drexel during the regular season while VCU already has one loss to Drexel (the Rams host the Dragons on February 16).

So I am able to write today's column due to the "February Fury" blizzard that is impacting the Northeast, specifically the Long Island area that is the home base of the College Hardwood. Right now, at 11:30 (when this will be published), it has snowed only a few inches. It's supposed to pick up in intensity as the late morning/afternoon progresses. However, the "blizzard" did result in most, if not all schools and universities to close ahead of time, including Hofstra University. Thus I am home, watching my two sons as I type this.

However, tonight's game at the Mack Center between Drexel and Hofstra is still on. If the blizzard lives up to its billing, and right now that's a big if, having a game tonight would be very dicey. Jerry Beach covers this so aptly in his latest Defiantly Dutch column.

There may be several reasons why Drexel and Hofstra are playing this game tonight despite the inclement forecast. Drexel is probably already in town staying at the Hempstead Marriott and based on their travel schedules, it may be very difficult to postpone the game to tomorrow night.

However it is my intention, as I told my wife this morning, whether it's a blizzard or not, to be at the game tonight. First, I figure there won't be too many knuckleheads like Beach and me on the road. And having lived here my entire life, I know how to travel in the snow. Low and slow baby ( a little "Cars" quote for you all).

Second, if the game is played, there is a good chance that there won't be too many people at the game. If that's the case, these are the games where you can hear EVERYTHING. And that could have the makings of a really good column. And I can't pass that up. So if all goes well, I will have live updates tonight from the Mack. Drexel is looking to be in sole possession of fourth in the CAA while Hofstra is looking for its first win vs a top six team in the CAA. Plus, you can't pass up the chance to spend an evening with Bruiser Flint.

The Mid Majors Baker's Dozen - February 9, 2010

It's time for the tastiest thirteen mid major teams in the country. And remember, no artificial fillings, meaning it's A-10 free.

1) Butler - The Bulldogs have won thirteen straight. The only thing that potentially stands in their way to a sixteen game winning streak before facing Siena is a road game at Cleveland State on Saturday. The Vikings are the last team to defeat Butler in the Horizon, which was in last year's Horizon championship game. The key is keeping Matt Howard out of foul trouble (22 last night vs. Loyola Ill).

2) Gonzaga - All the Zags did last week was easily dispatch Portland on Thursday then travel all the way to Memphis and beat a pretty good Tigers team. And that was with Elias Harris only scoring 6 points in the game, which broke an 11 game double figures scoring consecutive streak. Thursday night's home game with St Mary's is for all the marbles in the WCC.

3) Northern Iowa - It's all over in the Missouri Valley. Despite struggling mightily at home vs. Southern Illinois, the Panthers still found a way to eek out a win over the Salukis. NIU has a three game lead with five games in conference left to play. Only a meltdown of North Carolina proportions could deny the Panthers the Valley regular season crown. NIU needs the Bracketbuster win over ODU to strengthen their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

4) Cornell - The Big Red dispatched Harvard, Yale and Brown and are nationally ranked for the first time since 1951. However, Cornell faces its toughest Ivy League stretch, four consecutive road games. It starts Friday against Penn, then comes the big game the next night vs. the other undefeated team in the Ivy, perennial Ivy power Princeton. If the Big Red can survive the weekend vs. the Quakers and the Tigers, it could be then just a question of Cornell's seed in the dance.

5) St Mary's - The Gaels' Omar Samhan made sure San Francisco was not going to get another upset. Samhan had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks in a 16 point drubbing of the Dons. That was Samhan's fourth double-double game in a row and his fourteenth on the season. St Mary's will need a huge double-double from Samhan Thursday night at the Zags. It's an absolute must win for St Mary's, who could have really used a Bracketbuster game this season.

6) Siena - The Saints struggled to get by Fairfield at home but clinched a tie for the MAAC regular season championship with a win over the Stags. Siena has a four game lead over Iona with four games to play in conference and Siena swept Iona in the regular season. Thus Siena has clinched the number one seed in the MAAC Tournament. The Saints end the regular season with four road games including the Bracketbuster at Butler.

7) Northeastern - Watching live the second half dismantling of the Pride at the Mack Center, the Huskies have convinced me that they are the best team in the CAA right now. Matt Janning had a terrific game vs. Hofstra, but Chaisson Allen and Manny Adako both had a terrific second half. The Huskies are very patient on offense and very tough on defense (they held Charles Jenkins to four second half FG attempts). The rest of the regular season schedule features road games at W&M, the home Bracketbuster game vs. Louisiana Tech and ending the CAA regular season at George Mason.

8) Old Dominion - The Monarchs are now looking up at the Huskies in the standings after losing at VCU on Saturday. ODU needs to get Gerald Lee more touches. Lee only had four field goal attempts on Saturday for eight points. It was the second consecutive game for Lee with less than ten points (Lee had seven vs. William and Mary on Wednesday). Outside of their Bracketbuster road game vs. UNI, the Monarchs' remaining difficult games vs Mason and VCU are at home.

9) Wichita State - The Shockers close loss at UNI basically ended their hopes of finishing first in the Valley. Wichita State now must concentrate on winning out the rest of their regular season games, including winning at Utah State in their Bracketbuster game. A potential letdown game could be three days later after the Bracketbuster game vs. Bradley. If the Shockers could enter the Valley Tournament with 25 wins, and then get to the Valley finals, they should look very appealing to the NCAA Tournament committee.

10) VCU - In the CAA, Northeastern might be the best team, Old Dominion might be the team with the best at large resume, but the Rams might be the most dangerous team. Think about this, the Rams are so deep, the 2007-08 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year, Marist transfer Jay Gavin left the team seemingly due to lack of playing time. This might be due to nine other players averaging at least eleven minutes per game. Larry Sanders is making a serious push for CAA Player of the year as he averages 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 54 percent shooting from the field. VCU has won four in a row and if they win at Mason tonight on ESPNU, they may not lose again until they play at ODU to end the season.

11) Murray State - I honestly thought the Racers got hosed on Bracketbuster Saturday. Yes they have a nationally televised game vs. another team that's undefeated in conference in Morgan State. But I thought a William and Mary vs. Murray State game would have brought a lot of press to a very underrated Racers team (due to the fact that William and Mary has been one of the more celebrated Cinderella stories this year). Racers are one of the top teams in the country in FG percentage at 50.7 percent. And it's a team effort. Six players average 10 or more points per game. And ten players average 10 minutes per game. Murray State's scoring margin of +18 points per game is outstanding.

12) Utah State - Another good season for perhaps the most underrated mid major team in the country. Year in and year out the Aggies are at the top of the WAC standings. In the previous seven seasons, Utah State has made four NCAA Tournaments and three NIT tournaments. The Aggies have averaged nearly 25 wins per season in those past seven seasons. The Aggies are well on their way to another 20 plus win season with an 18-6 record and are tied with New Mexico State for first in the WAC and have a signature home win over nationally ranked BYU. Tai Wesley is averaging 13 points per game and is shooting 56 percent from the field to lead the Aggies who are shooting 48 percent from the field..

13) Kent State - After having their ten year streak of 20 or more wins broken by just one win last year (Kent State finished 2008-09 at 19-15), the Golden Flashes are just three wins away from starting a new streak. And they have done most of their damage in the MAC with an 8-2 conference record (plus the win over UAB doesn't hurt either). What's really impressive about Kent State is that their record on the road (7-4) is nearly as good as it is at home (9-2), always the mark of a good team. That may come from the fact that they have four players who average between 11 and 13 points per game. Spreading the wealth is always good.

Honorable Mention - New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech and William and Mary (those two losses vs. UNCW and James Madison probably killed an at large bid for the Tribe)

Top 16 Teams in the Country

For the Week of February 8, 2009 - Click Here for the Blogger Power Poll.

My comments below.

1) Kansas - Ho hum, an overtime win over Colorado and a struggling win at Nebraska. Gets a little more interesting at Texas on Big Monday.

2) Syracuse - Any doubt now on who is the best team in the Big East? I didn't think so.

3) Kentucky- Imagine how good the Wildcats would be if John Wall was actually happy to play for John Calipari.

4) Villanova - Probably wished they had canceled the game due to Snowmaggedon.

5) West Virginia - Do you think the Mountaineers smell blood in the water for Monday night's showdown?

6) Purdue - As long as Kalin Lucas is out, the Boilermakers are the best team in the Big Ten.

7) Michigan State - Rough week for the Spartans and now the Big Ten is a race again.

8) Georgetown - This seems to be a weekly thing for the Hoyas. Lose on Monday, rebound big time on Saturday.

9) Duke - A good week for the Blue Devils puts them in sole possession of first in the ACC.

10) Kansas State - The Wildcats show they're the second best team in the Big 12 with road wins over Nebraska and Iowa State.

11) Wisconsin - A big week for the Badgers as they sweep the state of Michigan.

12) Butler - All they do is win - twelve in a row in fact.

13) Tennessee - Good week for Rocky Top with a road win over LSU and a 24-point beat down of the Gamecocks.

14) Ohio State - The Buckeyes are the Big Ten team hiding in the weeds waiting to pounce.

15) Texas - Wasn't it just a few weeks ago this team was number one? Four losses in six games later, the Longhorns now face the #1 Jayhawks.

16) Gonzaga - After soundly defeating rival Portland, the Zags travel across country and beat Memphis. Solid.

A Huskie Size Win for Northeastern

Sometimes the weather is a metaphor for life and even for college basketball. Today, nor'easter type winds were blowing outside of the Mack Center. Inside the Mack Center, a huge second half Nor'easter wind blew out Hofstra today as the Huskies defeated the Pride 75-55.

When the game first started, it looked like Hofstra was going to blow out Northeastern. The Pride was energized from the start and jumped out to 15-2 lead with 15: 06 left. Miklos Szabo, Greg Washington and Charles Jenkins combined to score all 15 points as Szabo and Washington dominated the glass in the first five minutes.

But basketball is often a game of runs and Northeastern was going to show the first of several runs it had on the day. The Huskies behind the combination of Matt Janning, Nkem Ojougboh and Baptiste Bataille, went on a 16-0 run in the span of not even four minutes to take an 18-15 lead with 10:41 left in the half. Hofstra would return fire and go back up 23-20. Northeastern would come back and go ahead 30-28. Hofstra would score the next four points and go ahead 32-30 with 1:12 left in the first half.

Off a miss by the Huskies' Manny Adako, the Pride would get the ball back with 49 seconds left in the half. Then came a play that Hofstra fans have seen so often during the Tom Pecora tenure that often results in complete frustration for those Pride diehards. Pecora instructs Chaz Williams to run down the clock by dribbling at half court, then start a play with ten seconds left on the shot clock.

Here's what I don't understand. The Huskies are going to get the ball back with 14 seconds left in the half anyway, which is plenty of time to run a play. Why not instruct Chaz to run your normal offense to get a good shot? No. As noted, Williams starts the play with 10 seconds left, struggles to drive down the lane, loses the ball and Northeastern gets the ball back with 15 seconds left on the clock. Luckily for the Pride, Janning misses a shot and Hofstra is up at the half 32-30.

The point of the matter is the fans in the stands started grumbling about having seen this play before. And they have, as recently as the win over Wilmington, Pecora did the same play at the end of the first half. The difference was Hofstra was up 28 points at the time. Here, Hofstra was only up two. As I have said many times on this site, the clock is not your friend, points are your friend. The object in basketball is to score more points than your opponent. It was a wasted opportunity by Hofstra to go up by more than two at the half.

Still the first half was very entertaining. The Pride moved the ball around very well and got their bigs involved. Szabo had 9 points as did Jenkins and the Pride outhustled the Huskies off the glass, outrebounding Northeastern 30-12. Janning was playing well for Northeastern as he led all scorers at the half with 10. However, Hofstra did a terrific job on the rest of the Huskies as they held Chaisson Allen and Manny Adako to a combined five points on 1 of 12 shooting.

The second half though was a different story. A much different story. The Huskies jumped right out to a 40-33 lead with 16:40 left as Allen woke up from his hibernation with five quick points. And it didn't get any better from there for Hofstra. Northeastern would then extend the lead to 55-40 with only 5:30 left as Adako scored eight points during that span.

Meanwhile for the first fourteen and a half minutes of the second half, Hofstra scored eight points. How does a team that scored 15 points in the span of not even five minutes to start the game score only eight in a span of fourteen and a half minutes? Well, first give the Huskies defense credit as they took Charles Jenkins completely out of the game. During that span Jenkins had only four field goal attempts (and hit one of them) and Jenkins would end up scoring only five points in the second half. Also during that time, Northeastern forced six turnovers and the Pride missed on their first eleven shots from the field. Hofstra would only shoot 7 of 28 in the second half.

Meanwhile, talk about a tale of two halves. The Huskies shot a scorching 57 percent in the second half as Adako and Allen combined for 25 points on 11 of 14 shooting. Northeastern also was 19 of 24 from the charity stripe in the second half and 28 of 35 on the game (Hofstra was only 7 of 8 from the line). The Huskies were up by as many as 23 in the second half. For Hofstra, Jenkins led the way with 14 points but on only 3 of 11 shooting from the field. Cornelius "One and Done" Vines had 11 points and Szabo had 10 points, but only one point in the second half. The Pride had an ugly 19 turnovers in the game.

By the way, Vines got the nickname "One and Done" from Tieff and me tonight due to the fact that he often hits his first three point attempt but then misses the rest of his three point attempts. Sure enough, he hit his first today and then missed on the next four. And the Nathaniel Lester Witness Protection program continued today as he had zero points and four fouls in nine minutes. He looks completely lost out there.

I was very impressed with Northeastern. Janning was very solid and Adako had a strong second half. But Allen in particular, showed me a lot. Normally known as a three point threat, he only attempted three shots in the game from beyond the arc. He consistently drove by Williams in the second half for layups and made some nice passes. Northeastern in general moves the ball around very well and they only had eight turnovers on the game. The Huskies may be the best team I have seen in the CAA all season.

With the win, Northeastern moved to 11-2 in the CAA and took over sole possession of first place in the conference. That was due to both Drexel beating George Mason at the DAC and Old Dominion losing once again to VCU at the Siegel Center. With the win by the Dragons and Rams respectively, the race for the four first round bye spots has tightened up even further. As noted, Northeastern leads at 11-2. George Mason and Old Dominion are tied for second at 10-3. Drexel and VCU are tied for fourth at 9-4 and William Mary, with their win over Georgia State tonight is in sixth at 8-5.

As for Hofstra, thanks to Georgia State losing, they are still in sole possession of seventh at 5-8. Hofstra is now 0-8 on the year vs. the top six teams in the CAA (0-1 vs. Northeastern, 0-2 vs. George Mason, 0-2 vs. ODU, 0-1 vs. Drexel and 0-2 vs. W&M). Further proof of the haves and have nots in the CAA this season. The Pride have only two chances remaining to beat a top six team with a home game vs. Drexel next Wednesday and a game later in the season at Northeastern. But they need to play a whole lot better than today, otherwise it's going to be a very quick CAA Tournament for the Pride.

Northeastern Will Win

This one is over. Huskies up 62-46 with 3:30 left. Fans are leaving in droves. Northeastern is very very good.

Huskies Up Big

Noreaster up 59-42 with 4:56 left. Hofstra has only scored 10 points in over 15 minutes of the second half.

Nor'easter Up 15

Northeastern has outscored Hofstra 20-3 in the first nine minutes in the second half. Huskies lead 50-35 with 10:47 left. Chaisson Allen has nine points in the second half.

Another Noreaster

9-0 Noreaster run puts Huskies up 42-33 with 15:18 left in the game. Chaisson Allen has awoke from his hibernation. You can't double team Adako and leave Allen open for a three.

Hofstra Up At Halftime

Hofstra up 32-30 at half. Somebody please explain to me why with 47 seconds or so left Pecora always runs the clock down at end of half instead of running the offense. It makes no sense. Northeastern is going to get the ball back anyway.

Well Chaz Williams starts the play with 10 seconds left, loses the ball. Northeastern can't capitalize however. Still a wasted opportunity by the Pride to go up four at halftime.

Pride Up One

25-24 with 3:45 left in a very entertaining first half.

Hofstra Hit By a Noreaster

Huskies on 16-0 run. Nor'easter up 18-15 with 10:36 left first half.

Correction

I can't type 15-2 Hofstra.

Hof Up Early

13-3 Pride with 15:36 left in the first half. Hofstra playing really well with lots of energy.

Northeastern vs. Hofstra

Another Saturday. Another game at the Mack. Huskies vs. Pride. Details to come.

"Hoosiers" on the Hudson

After getting home early yesterday for a brief rest due to my cold, I hopped into the CRV and made the trek up to Poughkeepsie, NY. It's a trip that I have made many times before. That's because my sister in law Stephanie lives up in nearby Wappinger Falls with her husband Joe Ruggiero. Joe is the former long time Supervisor of Wappinger Falls who is now the Assistant Comptroller for the State of New York.

The Trek to Poughkeepsie is simple though fraught with traffic. Either take the Cross Island to the Whitestone or the Throgs Neck, then pick up the Hutch which turns into I 684. Then 84 West to Route 9 up to Poughkeepsie. Now last night, the traffic was pretty bad on I684. Perhaps everyone was heading up north to avoid the mid Atlantic storm that was affecting DC, Philly and parts of New Jersey. The traffic eased up once traveling on I84 West. But then I got off at that familiar exit, 13N, Route 9 towards Poughkeepsie.

Route 9 is one of those now pseudo highways that has turned into a giant runway for shopping malls. Lots of shopping malls. If you are ever hungry on Route 9, there is never a problem. There's a Friday's or an Applebee's or even a Red Robin seemingly everywhere on Route 9. But alas with malls, there is traffic. Lots and lots of traffic. So thanks to the traffic on I684 and now hitting every traffic light on Route 9, what started out as an ETA on my GPS of 6:30 was now approaching 7:15.

First, it was to pick up Tieff at the Poughkeepsie train station. Well, actually, to pick up Tieff on the side of the road off Poughkeepsie station. Ah the uses of modern cell phones. Then some wacky directions through side streets via my Garmin GPS and we got back on Route 9 right before the turnoff into Marist. Once there, we basically had to drive to the end of campus as we tried to keep track of where we were (the word "track" will come into play for a funny moment at the end of this article). We parked in a "shuttle bus stop" that would take us to the arena, we noticed no shuttle buses. Thus another "trek" to the McCann Center on the campus of Marist College. But being the two idiots we are, we amused ourselves along way by loudly humming the Sanford and Son theme song because we were seeing the Red Foxes play. You have to know your 70's TV sitcoms to understand this line - "Elizabeth, I'm comin!"

I have actually driven by Marist several times while up in Wappinger Falls as stated to see my sister in law, who is one of the funniest people I know. Stephanie went to school up in Vassar and met her husband Joe while being part of the Young Democrats at Vassar. Stephanie has a bubbly warm often silly personality and my older son Matthew reminds me a lot of Stephanie. Here they are pictured at the Trevor Zoo which is not too far from Poughkeepsie.

Marist College is right along the eastern shore of the Hudson River and during the day time, driving by the college with the river behind it, the college campus is a very pretty site. Unfortunately we really didn't get a good view of that on a pitch black evening as we walked seemingly across the entire 180 acres of campus. Tieff and I weren't too enamored of the campus buildings, but we did like how the campus was laid out.

So we got our exercise in, made it to the McCann Center, got our tickets from will call and went into the arena right in time for the national anthem. As soon as we walked in, I thought I had been transported to Indiana and was on the set of "Hoosiers". The McCann Center, albeit somewhat larger than a high school, seats 3,000 and features bleacher seating and wood paneling. Lots of wood paneling. All that was missing was Jimmy Chitwood.

It was "Pack the House" night at the McCann Center. And "pack" was an excellent word to describe the place, as Tieff, me and 2998 of our closest friends filled the sold out gym. We literally had to shoehorn ourselves into our seats. The place was loud and intimidating, a definite home court advantage for the Red Foxes.

Coming into the game, both teams were tied for first place in the MAAC at 9-1. Tony Bozzella's Lady Gaels started the season similar to the Northeastern men's team. The team played a tough road schedule and at one point was 4-8 on the season, including losing their first MAAC conference game. Then Iona proceeded to win its next nine games, the longest winning streak in the history of the women's program, to move to 13-8 on the season. Meanwhile Brian Giorgis' Marist team had come into the game off their first conference loss of the season vs. Niagara. Giorgis' team has won the last four MAAC championships, twice beating Iona in the final.

The game started with Marist's Erica Allenbach hitting a three pointer, which was a harbinger of the Red Foxes's first half. However the Lady Gaels came back with seven straight points to go up 7-3 as two layups by Suzi Fregosi and Anna McLean sandwiched an Anda Ivkovic three. Marist would score the next nine points to go up 12-7 as Kristine Best, a spunky player built like a fire hydrant, scored five of the nine points. Iona would score five of the next seven points to cut the lead to 14-12.

Then came the critical momentum swing play of the game. With the score still 14-12 with 10:43 left, Iona's Marissa Flagg made a nice steal off a Marist pass and drove the length of the court for what appeared to be the game tying layup. But she slowed up and missed the uncontested layup. Marist got the rebound and Rachele Fitz, Marist's best player nailed a three. It was as if Iona was hit by a punch to the gut. The five point turnaround was part of an 11-0 Marist run that would put the Red Foxes up 25-12 with 7:53 left.

The lead would swell to fifteen, 36-21 before Iona cut the lead to 39-26 at the half. In the first half, Marist would shoot 50 percent from beyond the arc (8 of 16) and would have as many threes, eight, as Iona had baskets overall in the first half. Iona seemed to be rushing their shots in the first half and only shot 27 percent from the field in the first half. Marist forced 13 Iona turnovers while they only committed five themselves.

But the Lady Gaels would not quit in the second half. Though Marist took its biggest lead at 48-32 off a Rachele Fitz three point play with 12:14 left, Iona would chip away. Ivkovic would lead the Lady Gaels on a 12-3 run to cut the margin to 51-44 with 8:02 left. But Iona would get no closer, as they had no answer for Fitz. Fitz scored 17 second half points and 23 on the game to lead all scorers as Marist would win Pack the House Night 68-58. Marist is now in sole possession of first in the MAAC at 10-1. Iona is now in second place at 9-2 but still maintains a three game lead over Manhattan for the second bye spot in the MAAC Tournament.

Next to Fitz, Ivkovic was the best player on the court. She led the Gaels with 17 points and 8 rebounds. The Gaels' leading scorer, Thazina Cook had an off shooting night going 3 of 15 from the field for 9 points, but she did grab 15 rebounds as Iona dominated the glass 51-36. However, the Lady Gaels couldn't put the biscuit in the basket, shooting 30 percent on the game. The Lady Gaels showed though they can hang in with the four time defending MAAC champs. The return game at Iona is Friday night, February 26 at 7:30 PM. Chances are Tieff and I will be there too.

Tieff and I took the long trek back to our car to head to dinner, then back home to New York. As we walked, I asked him if we were headed in the right direction. Tieff replied "Yeah, I think we are on the right track". Just then a train whistle blew loud in the distance. I made a comment about how ironic was that and we laughed. Another trip, another memory for sure.

Will the No Clue At All Listen For Once?

As you all probably know by now, the rumbling throughout the internet the last few days is the rumor that the NCAA, aka the No Clue At All, Tournament expansion to 96 teams is a "done deal". And thankfully, people are rising up with their comments.

• Kyle Whelliston eloquently stated it best on the Mid Majority on Tuesday. "Every wild card, extra round of eliminators, committee decision, and at-large serves to cheapen the accomplishment of "getting in," lowers the toll. A 96-team bracket would be the final straw for Our Game, especially if it's in the name of money."
• Jerry Beach on the always entertaining Defiantly Dutch gives contrary evidence to the claim that expanding to 96 teams would help mid majors. "I wouldn’t expect the ratio of at-large bids awarded to true mid-majors to increase much at all in a 96-team field. Three true mid-majors (Xavier, Dayton and Butler) received invites last year, a mere nine percent of the at-large field. That translates to about six invites in a 96-team tournament with 65 at-large bids."
• Joe Lunardi, has repeatedly stated "There is no good basketball reason to expand the current 64/65-team field." (if you are a member of ESPN insider,click here for the article)
• And the story that re-started it all, Sports By Brooks, noted the following "If they’re going to go to 96 teams, why not just make the whole season a double elimination tournament?And if the NCAA is going to drag out the hoops tournament even more, causing players to miss more class, how can it continue to justify not having a college football playoff? Someone needs to check the water in Indianapolis. Might wanna consider a boil warning."

Well, I am not surprised and if you are one of the ten people that read this site religiously, you know this too. When the story first hit in December of last year, I wrote a followup about this all two days later here.

Now as my December article states, I am not a "purist". The "purists" wanted to keep the tournament to 48, hell 32 teams. I am old enough to remember those days. I can say over time that there was more than enough good teams back then with the NCAA Tournament and the NIT to be able to expand it to 64 teams. And history has shown that. And as I also noted in my December article, if you are going to expand it, expand it to 68 teams. My reason was and still is simple;

"...it's usually only a handful of teams, say two or three that truly get wrongly snubbed out of a NCAA bid. Last season, you could seriously make a case for Saint Mary's, San Diego State and Creighton not making the tournament. It's been like that the last four seasons by my count...This way you can get those teams into the play-in round and we can then see which team truly deserved to be in the dance."

I know that Joe Lunardi in the aforementioned ESPN insider article agrees with this same idea. Think about it. On Selection Sunday, we don't talk about 32 teams getting snubbed. It's the not even a handful of teams, unfortunately often mid majors, that all the pundits, experts and even a blogger with a dream like me rail about, the wronged team(s). Let there be a play in round for eight teams and the four winners are each the last at large seed in each region. It ends the bubble talk once and for all and you get an extra day of NCAA tournament basketball.

But expanding it to 96 teams would simply be ruining the NCAA Tournament and here are the reasons why.

1) Basically you are taking the NIT and rolling it into the NCAA Tournament. Based on last year's NIT, there are nowhere near 96 worthy teams to make the NCAA Tourmanent. You had ten teams that had less than 20 wins in the NIT, with half of those teams only four games or less above .500 at the start of the NIT ( Wash. St 17-15, Northwestern 17-13, Georgetown 16-14, Virginia Tech 18-14, and Notre Dame 18-14). Think about it, do you really want to see a team that's two games above .500, such as Washington State or Georgetown from last season in the NCAA tournament? Are those teams really "worthy" of a ticket to the dance.

2) As I stated in my December article and as Lunardi writes in his insider article, adding a first round bye for the top 32 teams creates a dangerous dynamic. As I noted "32 teams would have already played and won one game, which to me is an unfair advantage. That makes it awfully unfair for the 32 teams that got a bye." Lunardi has stated "No. 1 seeds in the 64/65-team era have never lost a first-round game. That would surely change if they were faced with quality at-large opponents instead of low major qualifiers. And that's exacerbated by the fact that said opponent will have just posted a huge postseason victory."

3) Based on number two, the likelihood is that you may have more upsets in that second round of 64, but you will be watering down the product. In other words, you have the potential of very good teams being eliminated immediately. Now some of you would say, "Well isn't this what we want, more excitement?! And if you're a really good team, aka a number one seed, shouldn't you beat anybody, including a team that's already won a game".

The problem is by creating this extra round, you have now put a significant number teams on an uneven playing field. Yes, when there were 48 teams, you had an extra round, but only 16 teams were affected. Now you are doubling that effect, to 32 teams, increasing the likelihood that a good team will be knocked out. Very simply put, from a momentum standpoint, when a good team that has already won a game two days earlier faces another good team that hasn't played a game yet, the team that has already played has the advantage.

And for those of you who say that can't happen, here's a link to the 1980 NCAA Tournament bracket. From 1980 to 1982, forty Eight teams made the tournament (then in 1983 and 1984 it was 52 and 53 teams respectively). Sixteen teams received first round byes. In 1980, in the second round, eight of those first round bye teams lost the second round game. Fifty Percent. FIFTY PERCENT. And it was worse in 1981, it was nine out of the sixteen first round bye teams lost in the second round. In 1982 and 1983, there were only three first round bye teams that lost in the second round. In 1984, it was six out of sixteen.

It's nice to see several upsets in a first round or even a second round of the NCAA Tournament. But those are few and far between. But do you really want to start seeing say half of the teams upset in the second round of the NCAA tournament on a consistent basis? Don't you think it starts to seriously weaken the term "upset" after a while? I do.

So I have given you three reasons why not to expand the tournament. So why is the No Clue At All doing this? Well, we all know why from Whelliston's article - the link to the Division I Cabinet meeting from September of last year. In the cabinet meeting notes, it states "Consider bracket expansion for men’s basketball (to generate more money)." Yup, greed.. pure and simple greed.

By expanding the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams, basically you are doing the following - Take a delicious pint of Guinness, put it into a 32 ounce cup and pour 16 ounces of water into it. Not even Coors Light would taste that bad. But that's what the NCAA is trying to sell you with 96 teams. Voice your opinion and don't for a second buy it.

Looking for "Fight " in the Fightin Blue Hens

Like many other people throughout America (and perhaps the world), I watched "Lost" last night. But during commercial breaks, I switched on ESPNU to watch Northeastern vs. Delaware (I watched a little bit of Michigan State vs. Wisconsin as well, but the Badgers were blowing out the Spartans, so not much watching there). And the reason I kept coming back to the Huskies - Dragons game because I was struck so much by the so many empty blue seats being shown on TV in the Bob Carpenter Center.

You see for people like me and Jerry Beach, we grew up on the Delaware vs. Hofstra rivalry in the America East in the late nineties, early 2000-2001. It was Mike Pegues, Mike Ames and Mike Slattery vs Speedy Claxton, Norman Richardson and Jason Hernandez. Delaware won the America East and made the NCAA tournament in 1998 and 1999. Hofstra won the America East championship and made the NCAA tournament in 2000 and 2001.

And back then, when you thought about the America East tournament, you thought of the Bob Carpenter Center. The America East tournament preliminary rounds from 1997-2001 were held at the Bob, and it would be basically sold out (remember the championship round of the America East is held at the home court of the highest remaining seed).

Having been to the Bob a few times, I can tell you that's a terrific venue to see a basketball game. Tieff and I went last year to the Bob to celebrate my birthday, and we had a great time. When there is a home game on a Saturday, get to the Bob about an hour early and come hungry. We did that for our last trip - a nice BBQ spread, hot chocolate chip cookies (seriously is there anything better than hot chocolate chip cookies?), and you get to sit at large round tables where you end up interacting with fans. In fact, last year our scouting report on the state patrols resulted in a woman sitting at our table to call her daughter to advise her to slow down as she was coming to the Bob. Hey, whatever you can do to help.

So, when I saw so many empty blue seats at the Bob last night on ESPNU, I called Tieff and Tieff's response was a low "woww". The box score for last night's game, won handily by Northeastern 67-51, stated the attendance was 2,356. I am sorry, but based on what I saw on TV, there was no way there was 2356 people in the stands. But even if there were 2356 people in the stands, the arena was still less than half full.

And there is a reason for that, as there usually is. After the end of the 2000-2001, the Gang of Four, ie Drexel, Towson, Hofstra and Delaware left the friendly confines of the America East for the CAA. From 1993-2001, the Dragons, Flying Dutchmen/Pride and Fighting Blue Hens won eight of the nine America East championships. Needing to make the CAA an even ten, the Tigers came along as well.

Thus started the downfall of Delaware's basketball program. In their first three years in the CAA, Delaware was .500 or better in conference twice with two consecutive overall winning seasons, 15-14 in 2002-03 and 16-12 in 2003-04. Unfortunately, the Blue Hens would unravel starting in 2004. In 2004-05, Delaware was 11-20 overall. 2005-06, they were 9-20 overall. 2006-07, they hit rock bottom at 5-26 overall. From 2005-2007, they won a total of seven conference games.

Monte Ross came in after David Henderson was fired in 2006, but the change in head coaches so far has made no difference. As noted the Blue Hens in Ross' first season were 5-26. In 2007-08, Delaware, thanks in large part to "Mr. Double Double" Marc Egerson improved to 14-17 and 9-9 in the conference. But last season, the Blue Hens slipped back to 13-19, 6-12 in conference. And now this season, 6-17 and 2-10 overall in conference.

Thus over time, as the program has suffered, there was a major downturn in attendance. Below are the attendance figures for Delaware's home games vs. Hofstra.

2002-03 - 4,674
2003-04 - 4,260
2004-05 - 4,583
2005-06 - 3,680
2006-07 - 2,827
2007-08 - 3,316
2008-09 - 3,212
2009-10 - ?

So the Bob hasn't been at 75 percent capacity for a Hofstra-Delaware game since the 2005-06 season. And the attendance has obviously been down overall for the Fighting Blue Hens. Here are the games and attendance figures for this season.

Temple -3080, Bucknell-2002, Hampton-2070, Ohio-2269, Lafayette-2180, Drexel-2459,W&M-2720, Towson-2298, ODU-2178, Georgia State-2380. Average Attendance - 2,363

So in ten games this season, the Bob has been filled to 50 percent or more capacity only twice. Compare that with the Blue Hens second season in the CAA, 2002-03.

LIU -4144, Penn-4797, Rider-4744, VCU-4516, UNCW -4983, Drexel -4591, Towson-4899, W&M-4846, Mason-4595, Hofstra 4674, ODU-5004. Average Attendance - 4708 (Please note that there were a few Bob games I didn't have attendance figures for in 2002-03).

In all the 2002-03 games I had attendance figures for, only the first game of the season vs. LIU did Delaware have less than 90 percent capacity attendance. And the attendance comparison between 2002-03 and 2009-10 is stunning. This season, Delaware averages less than half the attendance they had in 2002-03. Stunning, but understandable considering the woes of the Blue Hens.

The CAA has not been kind to any of the former America East teams, including Northeastern who joined in 2005-06. No former America East team has won the CAA Men's Basketball Championship. And only two former America East teams have made it as far as the CAA championship game; Drexel in 2003 and Hofstra in 2006 (both teams lost to UNCW in the championship game). Towson and Delaware each have made it to the semifinal round once Delaware in 2003 (they lost to eventual champion UNCW too) and Towson last year.

It's not like Delaware hasn't had talent on their teams. In the past few years they have had very good players such as Harding Nana, Herb Courtney, Marc Egerson and Jawan Carter. But just not enough talent overall to get them even to respectability.

I wonder often if the five former America East teams long for the days when they were truly competitive and when there were real rivalries among the teams especially Delaware and Hofstra. But they thought they all saw an opportunity in the CAA to be bigger and thus better. Hofstra has seemingly regretted the move since day one and would do anything to get into the A10. And for the rest of those former America East teams, bigger is not often better.

Just ask Delaware. Right now they are looking for any fight in the Fightin Blue Hens. If last night's weak performance against the Huskies was any indication, it's going to be a while before they find it.

The Televised Bracketbusters Matchups Are In

So the listing of the eleven televised Bracketbusters are in;

Friday, Feb. 19

Old Dominion at Northern Iowa (ESPN2, 7 ET)
William & Mary at Iona (ESPNU, 9 ET)

Saturday, Feb. 20

Siena at Butler (ESPN2, 11 a.m. ET)
Morgan State at Murray State (ESPNU, Noon)
Louisiana Tech at Northeastern (ESPN2, 1 ET)
Nevada at Missouri State (ESPN2, 3 ET)
Akron at Virginia Commonwealth (ESPNU, 4 ET)
College of Charleston at George Mason (ESPN2, 8 ET)
Western Carolina at Kent State (ESPNU, 8 ET)
New Mexico State at Pacific (ESPNU, 10 ET)
Wichita State at Utah State (ESPN2, 11:59 ET)

If you want, you can read Andy Katz' "first take" on the Bracketbusters, which honestly, is nothing you don't know already. Lunardi 's take was better I thought and honest about some of the team's chances.

At first glance, if you read my "Bracketbuster Dreaming" article from Sunday, which I tried to preview the matchups, I got three things right. The Old Dominion - Northern Iowa and Siena-Butler matchups were really no brainers. The third I got right was that it was Colonial heavy. Five Colonial Conference teams made the televised matchups, most of any conference.

What I was first wrong about was that I said the CAA "has three teams in the Top 65" in ESPN Insider RPI. It's actually four teams in the Top 60 in the ESPN Insider RPI as I left out Northeastern at #56. My apologies Huskies fans (ODU is at 46, W&M is at 51, and VCU is at 60).

The second thing I was wrong about was the nine other matchups, though I had a lot of teams that were a part of the matchups.

At second glance, it looks like most of the games were based on Insider RPI matchup. To me there is at least one pairing that really doesn't make sense if based on RPI matchup, Akron #116 at VCU#60. Now mind you Akron was tied for first going into Monday night's action, and then the Zips went out and lost at home to Eastern Michigan. But based on style of play, I really thought Louisiana Tech (RPI 74) was a better matchup for the Rams than Northeastern (RPI 56) and I had Akron playing Northeastern in my preview. I would have swapped those teams.

Based on RPI William and Mary vs. Iona (85) is a little better than "The Mary" vs. Murray State (92), which is what I thought the game should be. Thought the Tribe playing a Racers team that's undefeated in the Ohio Valley might be more intriguing, but the Gaels have been great lately. Iona has won eight in a row and is in second place in the MAAC.

Plus there is one REALLY good thing about the Tribe vs. Gaels matchup. I am going to the game on February 19!

Third glance, the ODU vs. Northern Iowa game is really huge for both teams, not just ODU as Lunardi suggests in his article. The Panthers non conference SOS is a very low 254 as opposed to the Monarchs strong non conference SOS of 19 (both teams have similar overall SOS in the low 100's). Northern Iowa must get a win here to strengthen their at large bid chances should they fail to win the Conference Tournament. Their best non conference win is a home game vs. Siena, which mind you is certainly not bad, but there is nothing else close after that.

As for ODU, that road win vs. Georgetown is such a big win to have in the pocket. If they can knock off Northern Iowa, unless they completely fall apart in the CAA, they will have punched their ticket to the dance. And when you have the #2 and #3 scoring defenses in the country, you have the makings of a dandy matchup. And I believe this will be almost as good as the Siena-Butler game, despite what Katz thinks.

At fourth glance, Siena vs. Butler is still the best matchup of the Bracketbusters, though not by much over the ODU-NIU slugfest. It's going to be a question of wills. Which team can impose it's style on the other. Up tempo Siena vs. halfcourt Butler. The advantage may be to Butler who has played a stronger non conference schedule (#13) and has wins over Ohio State and Xavier, two probable NCAA tournament teams.

Siena doesn't have such a win and needs this game much more than Butler. Even if the Saints lose in the MAAC conference tournament, I think their success in the past two NCAA tournaments plus say 25-26 wins should be enough to get an at large. But I don't trust the No Clue At All. A Saints win at Hinkle Fieldhouse will punch their ticket to the dance for sure.

Wichita State (48 RPI) vs. Utah State (54 RPI) is a game that makes sense. As much as I am a history buff and the thought of a 2006 rematch between the Sweet 16 Shockers and the Final Four George Mason Patriots would have been grand PR, the fact is that Mason's low RPI (105) would not help Wichita State. Thus Utah State, one of really the best and most underrated mid major teams over the past several years, should give Wichita State a good test. A Shockers win helps the at large bid cause somewhat. Utah State needs to win the WAC conference tournament to get in.

The MAC's best hope is Kent State (RPI 69). The Golden Flashes seem to be on their way to another 20 win season and they get a very good test in the Catamounts (RPI 73), a team that won at Louisville (something UConn couldn't do Monday night).

Charleston (94 RPI) at Mason is definitely interesting, since it pairs two conference leaders. And it will be curious to see if the young Patriots decide to run with the Cougars. That could be a mistake for Mason, though they will be on their home court.

Nevada(66 RPI) vs. Missouri State (84 RPI) seems like a pairing that was done based on both teams past history. Both are in the middle of their conference standings and are not going anywhere unless they win their conference tourneys. Should be competitive though.

New Mexico State (82 RPI) is in a three way tie for first in the WAC and they travel to take on Pacific (95 RPI), first place in the Big West. This might be the most underrated matchup on Bracketbusters weekend as you have a major contrast in styles. The Tigers like a slow pace in the low 60's while New Mexico State scores in the high 70's (and gives up as many points as well).

The conference breakdown for the televised Bracketbusters - Colonial 5, WAC 4, MVC 3, MAAC 2, MAC 2, Southern 2, Ohio Valley 1, MEAC 1, Big West 1. The big surprise to me is the Valley only having three teams in televised games. But upon further review, the only other decent MVC team, Illinois State had a lower RPI than Mason (118) and the Redbirds were also a home team.

Just make sure you keep your dance card free February 19th and 20th. Lots of mid major hoop watching those two days. And if you can get to a live game, all the more fun.

The Top Sixteen Teams in the Nation - February 1, 2010

Late last week, Jeff Eisenberg who runs the Yahoo Sports National College Basketball blog, "The Dagger", contacted me about being a part of a new bloggers poll. The Sweet 16 Poll solicits votes on the nation's top sixteen teams from several bloggers throughout the country every week and then tallies them up to create the "Sweet 16 Poll".

The Sweet 16 Poll will appear every Monday on Yahoo's National College Basketball Blog (a link to which is on the left hand side of this site). And the Sweet 16 Poll will have links back to each of the bloggers who contribute to each weekly poll. This will occur every week until the start of the NCAA tournament. I told Jeff that I would be honored to do it. And it is an honor to even be considered for something like this. So below is my Sweet 16 teams for the week of February 1, 2010.

Please Note - By the deadline time I had to send my list to Jeff last night (5 pm Pacific), Mississippi was still playing their makeup game with Arkansas. The Rebels lost at home last night to the Razorbacks.

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This is was a difficult first week to do a Sweet 16 poll. Just to note how difficult it was, ten of the top sixteen and fifteen of the top twenty five teams in the ESPN Top 25 poll lost this week. So coming up with sixteen top worthy teams was not easy. As for how I do my poll, I look at several computer rankings, RPI, and from what I have personally seen. And apparently I watch too much basketball. My four year old son even commented to me this week that I need to turn down the TV volume "because the basketball is too loud."

1) Kansas. - They beat a good Missouri team by using a "Jayhawk blue wave" of talent to turn a 19-13 game at the ten minute mark to a 50-30 lead at the half. You could start warming up the Mizzou Bus right there. And they sealed it by beating nationally ranked Kansas State last night in a great overtime game in the "Octagon of Doom". Sharron Collins practically willed himself and his team to victory last night despite bad back spasms. To beat both your archrivals in the span of a week, that's deserving of a #1 ranking.

2) Syracuse - Call the Orange the "Comeback Cuse", because they specialized in big time comebacks this week. First, Syracuse was down 14-0 early to #11 Georgetown before spanking the Hoyas 73-56. Ask Duke how difficult it is to come back on the Hoyas. But it was no problem for the Cuse. Then against DePaul, the Cuse came back from an 18 point first half deficit to win 59-57. Plus that 6-0 road record with a win at West Virginia is real nice. 21-1 is awfully pretty.

3) Villanova - The only undefeated team in the Big East has depth. They have eleven players that average nine minutes or more per game. In a conference that night in and night out is so physical, Villanova's depth will play a big part down the stretch of the season. And they take advantage of physical play. Nova is first in free throw shooting percentage in the Big East at 75.5 percent and they have made 417 free throws, sixty more free throws than the second most team in the Big East, Louisville.

4) Kentucky - President Obama should consider a career in college basketball analysis. Earlier in the week, the President praised Kentucky for their Haiti relief efforts but he then warned them about playing at South Carolina. Sure enough, the Wildcats ran into "The Montez Downey" show and suffered their first loss as Downey put a 30 spot on them. But Kentucky came back and soundly defeated what was the hottest team in the SEC, Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena yesterday. Shooting 12 of 23 from beyond the arc always helps. Wall, Cousins, Patterson and friends are the real deal.

5) Michigan State - They're not flashy. They do not regularly blow teams out (in their last six wins, Michigan State has not won by more than 10 points). They just win, which is the mark of a Tom Izzo team. The Spartans have won ten in a row and fourteen of their last fifteen. And to be 9-0 in the Big ten with a three game lead over three other Top 25 teams is downright impressive.

6) West Virginia - How good is the Big East when my sixth ranked team is only the third best team in the conference? The Mountaineers have bounced back nicely after a tough one-point loss at home vs. Syracuse with four straight wins, two of which came this week. Against Louisville, where their vaunted scoring defense gave up 12 more points than they average, However, DaSean Butler saved the Mountaineer with a season high 27 points as West Virginia rallied from a twelve-point deficit to win 77-74. Goes to show you West Virginia has the offense to match the defense.

7) Purdue - The Boilermakers have got over their three game losing skid by winning their next four games in a row. In their exciting 60-57 win over Wisconsin, Purdue showed why they are one of the best defensive teams in the country by shutting down the Badgers' leading scorer Trevon Hughes. Hughes was held to nine points, seven under his season average on 3 of 11 shooting. They followed that win up with a 66-46 win over Penn State that must have had any Nittany Lions fans at the game wishing for the start of Spring Football.

8) Georgetown - So how do you get over losing a Big East game to Syracuse when you had a 14-0 lead and lose by 17? Easy, rout nationally ranked Duke in front of a national audience and more importantly, in front of the President of the United States. Again, the President offered very good analysis of Georgetown noting at halftime how he impressed he was with the Hoya guards. And they were impressive. Chris Wright had 21 points while Austin Freeman had 20 for the Hoyas. Georgetown shot an absolutely sick 71 percent from the field. The Hoyas scored 27 more points than Duke's scoring defense had allowed on average this season 61.8 points per game.

9) Texas - It was a tale of two teams this week for the former #1 ranked Longhorns. They beat the Red Raiders earlier in the week 95-83. Texas, led by Damion James' 28 points, torched Texas Tech for 55 percent shooting from the field. However, the Longhorns reverted to their losing ways yesterday as Baylor knocked off Texas 80-77. The Bears held the Longhorns to 38 percent shooting from the field. Baylor's Tweety Carter made the Longhorns look like Sylvester the Cat as he had 27 points to lead the Bears to victory.

10) Duke - The week also started off well for the Blue Devils as they knocked off ACC rival Florida State 70-56. One of the top teams in the ACC in turnover margin, the Blue Devils forced 22 Seminole turnovers while only turning over the ball 10 times themselves. However, Duke got crushed by a Georgetown team stoked by playing in front of a sold out Verizon Center that included the President of the United States. Still, with the non-conference loss, Duke is in second place in the ACC, right where they need to be.

11) BYU - The Cougars lost their second game of the season, a tough four-point game at nationally ranked New Mexico 76-72. Jimmer Fredette led BYU with 27 points in the losing cause. But the Cougars would bounce back by defeating Utah at home 82-69. Fredette topped his previous outing's output by torching the Utes for 36 points, shooting 11 of 23 from the field and 10 of 12 from the line. With the win, BYU maintains a one game lead in the loss column on New Mexico and UNLV in a very solid Mountain West conference. Fredette is averaging 21 points per game, shooting a ridiculous 48 percent from beyond the arc (and actually better than his regular FG average of 47 percent) and 90 percent from the line.

12) Kansas State - What a wild week for the Wildcats. First they traveled to Baylor and ended the Bears eleven game home winning streak with a 76-74 win. The Wildcats shot 52 percent from three including Jacob Pullam's six of seven from beyond the arc. Pullam had 25 points on the night. Then of course came the heartbreaking overtime loss at home last night to soon to be #1 Kansas 81-79 in the "Octagon of Doom". It was a close, tense game with 20 lead changes. Pullen had another good night with 22 points and the Wildcats pulled down 20 offensive rebounds against one of the best frontcourts in the country. Kansas State has proved it belongs with the elite.

13) Butler - In a matchup of the top two teams in the Horizon, Matt Howard would score fourteen of his eighteen points in the second half to lead Butler to a convincing 75-57 win over Wisconsin Green Bay. Today, the Bulldogs' Gordon Hayward scored 25 points as he shot 13 of 16 from the line and Butler came back to win another road game at Wisconsin Milwaukee 73-66. With the win, Butler moved to 10-0 in conference with a four game lead over several teams tied for second place. That’s flat out impressive.

14) Mississippi - In their only game so far this week, they had a solid ten-point win at Auburn. The Rebels have four players who average in double figures led by Warren, White and Polynice who combine to average 42 points per game. While all the other teams around Mississippi in the standings have lost at least one game in the past week, the Rebels quietly have won three in a row. It won't be quiet any more when they travel to Kentucky this week.

15) Wisconsin - The Badgers struggled this week but since so many other teams struggled as well, the Badgers have a spot on the Sweet 16 Poll. Wisconsin had to go to overtime on its own home court to defeat Penn State 79-71. Jordan Taylor had the last eight points in regulation, and then ten points in overtime to lead Wisconsin. In the loss to Purdue, Keaton Nankivil had a career high 25 points, 18 over his season average, on 7 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc. Wisconsin is still in second place in the Big ten, three games behind Michigan State. They can get closer if they win at home over the Spartans on Tuesday.

16) Georgia Tech - The Yellow Jackets were one of the few nationally ranked teams that made it through the week unscathed. First Georgia Tech easily handled Wake Forest at home 79-58 as the Yellow Jackets held the Demon Deacons to 32 percent from the field. Then while Duke played a non-conference game in D.C., Georgia Tech hosted a non conference game vs. Kentucky State. That seems about as equitable as the current federal tax code. The Yellow Jackets won easily 98-50. Kentucky State coach, Clarence Moore, a Yellow Jackets alum, commented about the current Yellow Jackets. " I don't see a leader out there. To me, it looks like guys are trying to find themselves." Well, Clarence, it certainly looks like guys were finding the basket against your team.