In one of the wildest college hoops seasons in recent memory, being ranked No. 1 in the country meant that a loss was probably on the horizon.  At one point for 5 weeks in a row there was a new number #1 team in the country every week. Indiana has been one of the best teams in the country  playing in the best conference the Big Ten.

IU has a deep squad and a scoring prowess to the tune of 81.9 points per game good for 2nd best in the country behind Northwestern St. They have no glaring holes and two likely Top 5 picks in the upcoming NBA draft in Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo. Both players are expected to forego their remaining eligibility and take that NBA lottery money.

Gonzaga who touts a current 12 game win streak and is undefeated in the West Coast Conference will likely be the overall No. 1 seed if they win their soft conference tournament where only two teams can most likely beat them on an off night. They are lead by the 7 footer from Canada,  Kelly Olynyk ,who is one of the top 5 candidates for Player of the Year.  His Stat line is solid 17.7 PPG 7.0 RPG 67%FG in only 25.6 Minutes per Game so he is extremely efficient.  But the true top player in college basketball this year hails from Columbus Ohio and wears the Maize and Blue jersey from University of Michigan.  

 No player has been more consistent or means more to his team then Trey Burke.

Burke has been the only player in the Big Ten to score 15 plus points in every conference game.  His stat line for the year while going through the rugged Big Ten season reads like this : 35.1 MPG 19.1 PPG 49.2% FG 79% FT 6.9 APG 1.6 SPG 3.6 AST/TO ratio.  What those numbers translate into in overall rankings for the entire country is top 25 in points per game, top 10 in Assists per game and No. 1 in the country in assists to turnover ratio.  This for a player who has the ball in his hands for about 90% of Michigan’s possessions.  

If Michigan can beat Indiana on Sunday they will improve their record at Crisler arena to 19-0 on the season. They will share the Big Ten title with Indiana and a possibly two other teams. If Michigan can win that game then I don’t think there is any way the voters can take the Wooden Award away from the deserving Burke.  I’ve watched every Michigan game this season.  Without Burke Michigan wouldn’t be playing in the NIT tournament let alone playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Burke’s defining moment came versus in state rival Michigan State. MSU embarrassed Michigan by 23 points earlier in the year and sadly they were up by over 30 in the 2nd half.

Michigan had a ten point lead erased with less then 4 minutes to play and Michigan State had the ball with less then a minute to play and clinging to a 1 point lead. Then Trey imposed his will on the defensive side of the ball stripping Appling of the ball and dunking the ball to give Michigan the lead. He then stepped in the passing lane on the ensuing possession and stole the ball without Michigan State getting a final shot off.  These are the moments that Wooden award winners should have and Burke has spoiled Michigan fans with these memorable moments every time he steps on the court. This is why he has been the top player in the country and deserves this award more then any other player in college basketball this year.

Since the Wooden award inception in 1976-1977 there have been five point guards who have won the award: Phil Ford, Jay Williams, TJ Ford, Jameer Nelson, and Jimmer Fredette.  Other then Jimer Fredette, averaging nearly 30 points per game, Burke’s stats stack up with all the other former point guard Wooden Award Winners.

2001-2002 Jay Williams 33.6 MPG 21.3 PPG 45.7 FG% 67.6% FT 5.3 APG 2.2 SPG

2002-2003 TJ Ford 33.6 MPG 15 PPG 40.1 FG% 82% FT 7.7 APG 2.0 SPG

2003-2004 Jameer Nelson 33.9 MPG 20.6 PPG 47.5% FG 79.2% FT 5.3 APG 3.0 SPG

The biggest competition for Burke is Otto Porter Jr. out of Georgetown. He will win Big East Player of Year with his solid play all year. I think he will finish 3rd in voting if Georgetown beats Syracuse in the final game of the season and wil1at least have a share of the Big East title after being upset by Villanova on Wednesday night. He is averaging 34.5 MPG 16.6 PPG 7.6 RPG 51% FG. I think Burke’s biggest competition and the smoothest college player in the game this year is Victor Oladipo. This monster is going to be an immediate asset to some NBA team next year. He plays suffocating defense. He finishes at the rim like the hoss that he is and in my mind is the most efficient player in all of college basketball.  If he wasn’t surrounded by so much talent his stat line would be more impressive from a numbers perspective. 27.7 MPG 13.7 PPG 63% FG (leads Big Ten) 74.5% FT 6 RPG 2.3 SPG. All these players have had great years, but nobody has been as a dominant every time they step on the floor as the 6’0 point guard from Columbus. He has made Michigan basketball relevant again and I haven’t been able to say that since the early 90’s when the Fab Five took the country by storm.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Bulldogs’ trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis was made possible after stepping up in the underdog role and playing great defense to knock off No. 1 Syracuse 63-59 and No. 2 Kansas State 63-58.

In the Syracuse win the Bulldogs took Orangeman guard Andy Rautins right off his game, never giving him a chance to set the pace and holding him to 15 points and against Kansas State they held guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to a combined .366 shooting percentage from the floor and a lone basket in the entire first half.

With all the games in the Final Four expected to be tight contests, the Bulldogs (32-4) are expected to again turn to defense to get past their next opponent Michigan State (28-8).

“You’ve got four teams that very much believe in their teammates, that very much believe in the systems and styles of play and they very much believe in defending. That’s obvious,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens.

The Michigan Sideline agrees. With their star and leading scorer, Kalin Lucas (15.2 points-per-game), in street clothes on the sideline nursing a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, they are also expected to come into the game thinking defense.

With Lucas on the bench, the Spartans’ leading scorer is averaging just 11 points a game.

Michigan State has gotten this far in the season by holding their opponents to 40.8 percent shooting and many games have dominated the boards.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has taken his team to the Final Four 6 out of the past 12 years and knows it will take a team effort to pull off a trip to the championship game.

“It’s going to be a little bit refreshing to have to watch and say, ‘How did that team do that?’ Not, ‘how did Magic Johnson or Carmelo Anthony do that? It really speaks to what team sports are about.”

Tip-off is Saturday at 6:07EST in Indianapolis.

In the other match-up the West Virginia Mountaineers (31-6) take on the Duke Blue Devils (33-5) with that tip-off at 8:47 EST.

Like the MSU and Butler game, this match-up is also expected to be physical and a lot about defense.

“It’s not going to be about fast breaking and beating you in transition,” said West Virginia guard Da’Sean Butler. “Playing ‘D’ rebounding, playing a rugged style that no one wants to watch. We usually win when we do those things.”

The Mountaineers are on a great roll and have won every game since Feb. 22.

On the other sideline, Duke is the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament. The Blue Devils were able to overcome under-achieving scoring performances by their top players in a few of the games leading up to this Final Four and advanced with stellar defensive play and by crashing the boards.

Surrounding their 7-foot center, Brian Zoubek, with several more players at 6-8 or taller, the Blue Devils had a 560-443 advantage this season on the offensive boards.

“Our team totally wants to rebound and play defense,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s much different than some Duke teams of the past. But they’ve accepted what they are, which is good, and they’ve tried to become better at who they are.”

More March Madness: NCAA Bracket – NCAA.com

This is Why March’s Last Name is “Madness” – Sports Climax 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After seeing the first weekend unfold, the best sporting event once again comes through with everything a sports fan could ever want in a tournament. The first weekend of March Madness had it all. It started with a double OT game as BYU outlasted Florida and finished with Purdue toppling Texas A&M in another OT game.

There were 4 OT games and 12 games that ended within 3 points of each other. There were upsets with Cornell and St. Mary’s making it to the Sweet 16 and then along came Northern Iowa: the giant slayer that shocked the world and turned brackets upside down when they beat the overall #1 seed Kansas.

Hopefully, this was enough of a wake-up call to the NCAA to leave this tournament just like it is because there is no need to mess with this perfect format.

The best part of all of this is we still have 15 games to be played to determine the 2010 National Champion. Here is what we learned from the first weekend. Everyone has considered the Big East the premier conference in college basketball and they received 8 bids to the tournament but with upsets to Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Marquette, only two Big East schools remain. (West Virginia & Syracuse)

The second best conference the Big 12 received 7 bids and only 2 teams also made it to the round of 16 with upsets to Texas A&M and Kansas only Kansas St. and Baylor advanced.

The most surprising conference would have to be the Big Ten who had three teams survive with only 5 teams getting bids. I had Purdue dead in the water after Robbie Hummel went down with a torn ACL. They fought through and did what Big Ten teams love to do in the tournament. They controlled tempo, played good defense and made clutch shots when they counted.

My all Kingpin Team of the 1st weekend:
Omar Samhan St. Mary’s- 30.5 ppg 9.5 RPG
Jordan Crawford Xavier- 27.5 ppg
Ali Farokhmanesh N. Iowa- 2 game winning shots 16.5ppg
Wes Johnson Syracuse- 24.5ppg 10 RPG
Louis Dale/Ryan Whitman Cornell- 23.5 ppg 22ppg

My Goats of the 1st weekend:
Scottie Reynolds- 4-31 Fg, 1:1 Assist T:O ratio
Sherron Collins- 4-15 0-6 3 pt attempts. 5 To’s vs N. Iowa
Georgetown giving up 97 points to the Ohio University
Predictions of Sweet 16.
Cornell vs Kentucky

Can the Big Red machine continue to dominate in this tournament against the Young flashy Wildcats. Cornell does a great job of controlling tempo and limiting their opponent’s possessions.

I would love to see a team who doesn’t give athletic scholarships beat the coach who always seems to land the top recruits every year who then leave for millions the next year. ESPN’s Jay Bilas picked Cornell into the Elite 8 and I would love to see our second #1 seed go down against an Ivy league school.

Butler vs. Syracuse – In this 5 vs. 1 matchup, I see the Syracuse Orangeman taking advantage of their length and athleticism to cause Butler some issues. I expect their 2-3 zone to suffocate Butler’s shooters and Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins to continue their good tournament play with another victory.

Xavier vs. Kansas St. – In this matchup, I like Xavier to spring the upset and beat Kansas St. in a rematch from Dec. 8 where K-St beat them by 15 at home. In Salt Lake City, I like kingpin Jordan Crawford to continue his strong play scoring the basketball. Xavier has been playing great team defense in the tournament and I think this will continue as they stifle the Wildcats and earn a trip to the Elite 8.

West Virginia vs. Washington – Washington is getting a lot of hype in possibly upsetting the Mountaineers. Washington was ranked 13th in the preseason coaches’ poll and looked to be having a disappointing season before getting their act together and reeling off 7 straight victories and winning the Pac 10 Tournament.

They have two studs in Quincy Pondexter and Point guard Isaiah Thomas. I feel that even though they are playing their best basketball they are playing a far superior opponent then their other two tourney matchups. West Virginia plays incredible team defense and crashes the boards better than any other team. I think they will slow down the 2 headed Husky monster and make it to the Elite 8for the third time in their schools history.

Tennessee vs. Ohio St. – In the Midwest bracket where Georgetown and Kansas have been eliminated can Tennessee add to the list of upsets? I don’t think so, I think the steady hand of Evan Turner and company will end their upset bid and beat the winner of MSU and N. Iowa to make it to their school’s 11th Final Four.

N. Iowa vs. Michigan State – In this matchup where the upset heard around the world is back at it against Tom Izzo’s Spartans who have made it to 7 Sweet sixteen’s in the last decade. I would love the Spartans in this one if their leading scorer and floor general Kalin Lucas wasn’t out for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Since he is hurt, I think N. Iowa will win this one in a close game. I wouldn’t count out Izzo’s Spartans because it’s March and he knows how to win in spring.

Duke vs. Purdue – I will say it, I was totally wrong about the Boilermakers. I thought they had no chance to make it through the weekend. They proved to me how tough and competitive their coach and team can be by beating a very good Texas A&M team in the second round. They are one of the biggest surprises for me in the Sweet 16 and have really come together and have played well thus far. I don’t think they can score enough to beat the Blue Devils and so I see Duke advancing to their 18th Elite 8.

Baylor vs. St. Mary’s – In the last of the sweet sixteen games, I like the Bears putting St. Mary’s Cinderella run on hold. I think kingpin Omar Samhan will run into the best interior defender he has ever seen in Ekpe Udoh. Udoh is long and 6’10 and I think will be able to bother Samhan. Baylor also has a number of big bodies they can throw at him to continue to make him work. I love St. Mary’s shooters but I think Baylor’s overall talent is better and I expect them to make it to their school’s 3rd Final Four.

Mateo is the NCAA contributor for SportsClimax.com.

Watch NCAA March Madness Games Free on your computer at NCAA.com

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

Stuck at Work?

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Watch all NCAA Basketball March Madness games live and free on your computer in high quality in their entirety, direct from the official NCAA website here on NCAA.com/video

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MARCH MADNESS – After Ali Farokhmanesh nailed the 3-point shot that was heard around the world with 35 seconds left in regulation to seal a victory over the No. 1 overall seed, Kansas Jayhawks, the Northern Iowa Panthers are officially on the map and heading to the Sweet 16 round for the first time in the school’s history.

The Jayhawks entered March Madness as a heavy favorite to win the tournament but that is why the tourney’s last name is “Madness.”

“We never doubted we could play with them at all,” said Panthers’ Adam Koch. The team backed up that comment and came out with a vengeance, leading the favored Jayhawks a majority of the first half.

This 69-67 game creates a lot of what-ifs for the Jayhawks and their fans, like any other two-point game in NCAA ball would, but this one is going to hurt for quite some time. The Jayhawks (33-3) had a hard time finding the net from outside the arch shooting a dismal 6-of23 from long range.

Farokhmanesh finished with a team-high 16 points while center Jordan Eglseder scored 14 and Jake Koch added 10 of the bench for the Panthers. Marcus Morris led the Jayhawks with 16 while Cole Aldrich scored 13 and had 10 boards.

“Obviously, everybody is disappointed on our team,” Aldrich said. “To work so hard and to go through so much adversity … it’s disappointing that we couldn’t have let Sherron go out in a better way.”

As the 9th seed in their bracket, Northern Iowa (30-4) was the first team to defeat a No. 1 seed in the second round since UAB and Alabama won against heavily-favored teams Kentucky and Stanford in 2004.

Note: Here is a free website where you can watch all the NCAA March Madness games live for free on your computer.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

As we spring ahead our clocks, March Madness is creeping that much closer to tip-off. While everyone starts to put the finishing touches on one of their 5 brackets in 3 different pools, do we ever stop and think that no matter how many of these damn things we do we’re still going to have so many gaping holes?

If only we could combine all five for one super bracket. Well for myself and the million others I think that is part of the beauty of this madness.

When the 2010 brackets came out there were a few things that came to mind. First off I think the committee did a great job picking the tourney this year. For those that were left out in the Alaskan cold I can’t say it’s the committee’s fault.

To the three saddest teams in America: Virginia Tech, Mississippi State and Arizona State, I looked over your resume and I can only give Miss. State the benefit of the doubt on this one. They played Kentucky into OT twice and have three wins against teams in the tournament Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, and Florida.

Arizona State you went 12-6 in the weakest power conference, which isn’t bad, but you only beat Washington and Arkansas Pine Bluff and even though you played a great non-conference schedule you lost to all three of those tournament bound teams. So in my mind the best place for you was the NIT.

Virginia Tech who I thought was the biggest snub at first but when digging deeper saw that your best non-conference win was Seton Hall who is an NIT team and of your three quality wins against tournament foes, none of those teams are higher than a No. 7 seed. The two teams in question that made it from the ACC ahead of you Georgia Tech and Wake Forest both have five wins against tournament bound teams and have beaten much better teams like Duke, Maryland, and Butler.

Now on to the actual bracket without a second glance its seems obvious to me which No. 1 seed got a cake walk of draw and which one got stuck fighting off the wolves of the pack.

The #1 overall seed Kansas has got to deal with Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland, Michigan State, and Tennessee. I name Tennessee because even though they are a sixth seed they have beaten Kansas and Kentucky and have a great coach in Bruce Pearl. Michigan State is the toughest No. 5 seed I can remember because who wants to face Tom Izzo and the always dangerous Spartans.

If you don’t know ask Uconn, Louisville, and Kansas last year. Oh by the way you also have two very capable final four teams in Ohio St. and Georgetown. Ohio St has the best player in the country in Evan Turner and Hoyas have great inside and outside presence. The Hoyas have been streaky this year but when their playing well they can beat anyone at any time. They dominated Duke and have beaten Syracuse, Villanova, and lost by only two points in the Big East Championship game to West Virginia.

The opposite of this bracket is the South region where the Duke Blue Devils sit as the #1 seed. I feel like Dick Vitale made up this region. Dickey V has quite the man crush on the Blue Devil’s program and has for years. Villanova who has lost 5 of their last 7 games is the No. 2 seed. Baylor who is the three seed is a good team that only has two bad loses all year, but there still the Baylor Bears and this is a stage that their not accustomed to being on.

The fourth seed Purdue is about as sorry as a No. 4 seed can get since they lost their second leading scorer and defensive leader Robbie Hummel to injury. They have look lackluster since that injury barely beating the bottom feeders of the Big Ten and then got blown out by Minnesota by 27 in the Big Ten Tourney.

My picks from the sweet sixteen on go a little like this.

In the Midwest I like Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown and Ohio St. No surprises here these are the best teams in the bracket and I’ll take Tom Izzo’s five final fours over Maryland’s squad even though I feel they are pretty evenly matched.

Izzo’s magic is no secret come tournament time. From here I do like Kansas and Ohio St. advancing. The Jayhawks just have too much firepower this year and will be looking for revenge after the Spartans ended their season last year in heartbreaking fashion. Ohio St. and Georgetown is a tossup and I’ll use my Midwest biases here and take the Buckeyes. In the Elite 8 matchup I have to go with the Depth and star power of the Jayhawks to beat the Buckeyes.

In the West I like Syracuse, Butler, Xavier, and Kansas State. Butler played a difficult non-conference schedule winning some games losing others but were in every game and then went undefeated in conference play. I think the winner of their first round matchup with UTEP makes the sweet sixteen. Xavier I like upsetting Pittsburgh because although they started slow they’ve been playing better in an underrated Atlantic 10 conference and Xavier has always been a tough outcome tournament time. I like Syracuse and Kansas State Advancing with Syracuse making it to the Final four joining the Jayhawks.

In the East bracket I like Kentucky, Wisconsin, Marquette, and West Virginia. Kentucky should handle the defense of the badgers pretty easily with their athletic ability. In a Big East matchup for the second time this season I think West Virginia beats Marquette in a tight game and heads to Syracuse to face Kentucky. In this Elite 8 matchup I like the Mountaineers Offensive rebounding and experience to upset the young Kentucky Wildcats. Sorry John Calipari, I just don’t see your freshman sensations getting it done against the tenacity of the Big East tournament champs West Virginia.

In the South Bracket I like Duke, Texas A&M, Richmond, and Baylor. I like the Aggies here to upset Duke with their solid defense and ability to get to the free throw line. I have not been high on Duke all year and feel the ACC was the second weakest power conference in America and think that they will get bounced in the round of 16.

I like Baylor to advance also to the Elite 8 in nearby Houston by beating 7th seeded Richmond in a close contest. I love Richmond’s team and their A-10 player of the year Chris Anderson but I think playing so close to home for Baylor is a huge factor in advancing this round. I like Baylor beating Texas A&M in a Big 12 clash and advancing to their first final four in school history.

My Final Four I like West Virginia beating Baylor and Kansas upending Syracuse. In the Finals I think the best team in the tourney survives and Bill Self brings home the title for the Jayhawks.

My Sleeper teams that could make some NOISE!

Richmond 7 seed
UTEP 12 seed
Siena 13 seed
BYU 7th seed

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Yes, it’s that time of year again when the snow begins to melt and the flowers begin to bloom and the weather starts to ripen into something that brings a smile to all us Michiganders who appreciate the coming of spring.

With the beautiful temperature increase we also get to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with the best sporting event the year has to offer. Before we get into my picks for the bracket that will come on Monday.

I would like to speak my mind on the expanding the perfect tournament to 96 teams and why this is a lackluster idea. First off it waters down the talent and overall game play of the tournament by allowing any team with a decent record into the tourney.

Did you see some of the bowl games in college football this year. . . need I say more?

Instead of allowing almost anyone in wouldn’t it be better to make it more exclusive as is and just leave a few out in the cold. That is why the NCAA has the NIT to celebrate the success of teams who had solid years but just didn’t quite play well enough to go dancing.

Since 1980 only 3 teams had a team that made it to the finals of the NIT tournament.

Bradley -1982 won the NIT and runner ups Wyoming -1986 and Lasalle-1987. All those bubble teams that went to the NIT lost to power conference opponents who are much weaker then the teams in the actual dance.

I understand that some mid-major teams usually five or six each year get their bubble busted by the committee due to poor RPI ratings, strength of schedule, and quality wins or important road wins.

It’s not an exact science nor should it be that is what is so special about the tournament if you cannot win your own conference tournament or beat a big dog school on their home floor then I think the tournament for you is the NIT unless you are one of the 6-8 at large bids for non-power conference teams.

I understand it’s not fair that these mid-major programs never get large schools to travel to their gyms to play home games but that is a part of being the underdog.

Every year the mid major powerhouses of Butler and Northern Iowa’s and Gonzaga’s win their conference tournament taking away automatic bids from other mid-major schools when they would all make at large bids no matter what happened in their conference tourney.

Saint Mary’s this year proved something and that is the answer to making the tournament prove something at the end of the year by beating a worthy opponent. If you expand the field you eliminate the excitement and importance of so many games throughout the year as well as watering down the excitement and game play of the NCAA tournament by adding teams of mediocrity to the field.

The feeling of accomplishment for teams that make the tourney would decrease drastically because it’s no longer a private party it’s a commercial gathering with anyone with a Facebook invite is allowed in.

It should be a special invite to go dancing in March not like making a bowl game that happens for any team that did anything during the year. I will fill out my picks starting with the sweet sixteen and moving forward once the bracket has been posted.

Copyright © 2010 – Sports Climax^TM