The 75th Masters tournament champion is Rory Mc.....Wait, there was a fourth day to this tournament. After watching most of the coverage on ESPN and surrounding sports networks Rory had to win, it was his destiny, he was going to win at 21 just like tiger won his first masters at 21, and we were going to have our new golf hero. A young kid who came up from nothing to dominate the Masters field and take the world by storm. Oops. Someone forgot to tell him that Sunday at the Masters is more challenging than any other golf outing hes ever been apart of in his life. The pressure, the crowds, the field chasing him, the Tiger Woods effect, and the course itself changing as the weekend went along. On a side note in case you were in a coma over the weekend Mcilroy lead through the first 54 holes of the Masters and then went on to shoot an 80 on the final day. Yes, an 80, tying him for the worst ever Sunday performance by a leader.
So with Mcilroy hitting the proverbial wall it was clearly Tiger Woods' tournament, no one else could possibly beat Tiger Woods especially after he tied his own record by shooting a 31 on the front 9. As Tiger made the turn he was a shot back and still had nine holes to play. The nine holes that he seemingly dominated on Friday when he had two birdies and an eagle on the return to the clubhouse. Well someone forgot to tell him that he has never comeback and won a major tournament let alone the Masters'. He didn't necessarily fall apart, but a bogey on a very easy par 3 12th hole followed up by missing a 4 foot eagle putt on 15 just put the dagger in his chances of winning as he played even golf on the back nine.
So next in line was about 4 or 5 different people. At one point during this tournament you had the aforementioned Tiger Woods, KJ Choi, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, and Angel Cabrera all either with a share of the lead or up a shot. There was even talk at one point about how a six way playoff was inevitable and that this tournament could not end without a playoff it was almost impossible. Well it did end without a playoff and I will tell you why. Choi bogeyed 12, 17, and 18 on the back nine and the latter two really put his foot in the grave. Van Pelt fell apart on 16 and 17 when followed two birdies with two bogeys and he was quietly erased from the competition. Cabrera was just plagued by inconsistency all day, it seemed as though every birdie he made was followed up by a bogey, and a 1 under 71 was not going to cut it on this day. Donald just started to far back when the day began, and especially with a double bogey on 12 and a bogey on 17 it would have been hard for him to pull this one out. Ogilvy was another guy who seemingly started to far back as he shot a wonderful 5 under on Sunday but a 1 over on Saturday which killed him and his chances. Scott was another guy who had a great Sunday but could not put together the whole package as going into the weekend he was only 2 under par and despite shooting a 67 on Saturday he bogeyed two of his last three holes. Jason Day was one of the most exciting players to watch in this tournament. He was young, very humbled by the experience and if it wasn't for a Saturday 72 round he would be your Masters champion. He played flawless golf for most of the tournament and could be a guy to look at in the future as a great player. Ah, now on to Schwartzel. The Masters Champion. Yes, Charl Schwartzel a Masters champion. Schwartzel shot under par every round this year at the Masters and that includes a 6 under 66 on the final day to clinch his victory. What was even more impressive than that was the fact that he birdied the last four holes in order to secure the win. He basically looked history, fear, glamor, and the green jacket in the eye and decided that he would be the winner of the 75th Masters Championship. He was literally flawless in every shot he took from 15-18. He all of a sudden had the swagger of a champion. I mean he went to the best golf course in golf history and shot a 14 under par over four rounds. That is simply not supposed to happen at Augusta. Augusta chews up and spits out these unknown players with little background. This was his first tournament win and he did it on the biggest stage there is.
As far as answering the question Was this the greatest Masters ever? It certainly has my vote. An epic collapse, a struggle for the top, the resurgence of the greatest golfer in current memory, and a kid that wins his first ever pro tournament on the biggest stage in golf. If it wasn't the greatest it was pretty close.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
University of Connecticut: 2011 National Champions
You can say they had an easy road. You can say that they caught Butler on their worst night of the year. You can say that they did not play at a National Championship level that night. You can even say that they were apart of the worst National Championship game in the history of the NCAA. One thing is for sure, you HAVE to say the University of Connecticut deserved to win this years National Championship.
In a year where College Basketball had declined from the year before, and no number one seed advanced past the Elite 8, Connecticut (a 3 seed) found themselves as the highest seed left in the Final Four. First they played Kentucky, who they had defeated back on November 24th by 17 to win the Maui Invitational. This time around the game would be a lot closer. Despite holding a 10 point lead at halftime, Connecticut tripped up and let Kentucky back into the game. In a back and forth second half, defense was the key. Despite giving Kentucky chances at the end of the game, Connecticut held strong and defeated Kentucky for the second straight time.
Before that was the West regional, where UConn would fly to the west coast to face the number two seeded San Diego State. Defense and experience held true in this one. Coach Jim Calhoun drew up excellent defensive sets, and was able to overcome a poor shooting night by his Huskies to advance to the Elite 8. After defeating San Diego State, 74-67, UConn was surprised to see Arizona not Duke. The Huskies played another war type game with the Wildcats, but was able to catch two breaks, as Arizona missed two three pointers as time expired which would have won them the game. UConn at that moment completed another major task, which was defeating two west coast teams on the West coast. In both games UConn was seen as an away team, despite being the higher seed in the Arizona game. Neither of these games felt like a neutral site by any means.
In the first two round UConn started making their statements. First they dominated Bucknell in an all out team effort. It was not the Kemba Walker show, despite an almost triple double. Walker passed the ball early and often, as Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriaki were the beneficiary. The second round would see UConn face off against a Big East foe in Cincinnati. It was the Kemba Walker show, as he scored 33 of the teams 69 points. What made this game so impressive was that for Cincinnati, this was a revenge game after losing to UConn earlier this season on their home court.
The Big East Tournament enough was history making for the Huskies. They became the first team ever to win this tournament in five games. UConn had to play in the opening day and won five games in five days. The run through the Big East saw them take down Depaul, followed by #22 Georgetown, #2 Pittsburgh, #11 Syracuse, and winning the title against #14 Louisville. Five games, five wins in five days.
With all that being said, The Connecticut Huskies deserved this championship more then any other team in the nation. Not the best team always wins, but the most deserving will always achieve greatness.
In a year where College Basketball had declined from the year before, and no number one seed advanced past the Elite 8, Connecticut (a 3 seed) found themselves as the highest seed left in the Final Four. First they played Kentucky, who they had defeated back on November 24th by 17 to win the Maui Invitational. This time around the game would be a lot closer. Despite holding a 10 point lead at halftime, Connecticut tripped up and let Kentucky back into the game. In a back and forth second half, defense was the key. Despite giving Kentucky chances at the end of the game, Connecticut held strong and defeated Kentucky for the second straight time.
Before that was the West regional, where UConn would fly to the west coast to face the number two seeded San Diego State. Defense and experience held true in this one. Coach Jim Calhoun drew up excellent defensive sets, and was able to overcome a poor shooting night by his Huskies to advance to the Elite 8. After defeating San Diego State, 74-67, UConn was surprised to see Arizona not Duke. The Huskies played another war type game with the Wildcats, but was able to catch two breaks, as Arizona missed two three pointers as time expired which would have won them the game. UConn at that moment completed another major task, which was defeating two west coast teams on the West coast. In both games UConn was seen as an away team, despite being the higher seed in the Arizona game. Neither of these games felt like a neutral site by any means.
In the first two round UConn started making their statements. First they dominated Bucknell in an all out team effort. It was not the Kemba Walker show, despite an almost triple double. Walker passed the ball early and often, as Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriaki were the beneficiary. The second round would see UConn face off against a Big East foe in Cincinnati. It was the Kemba Walker show, as he scored 33 of the teams 69 points. What made this game so impressive was that for Cincinnati, this was a revenge game after losing to UConn earlier this season on their home court.
The Big East Tournament enough was history making for the Huskies. They became the first team ever to win this tournament in five games. UConn had to play in the opening day and won five games in five days. The run through the Big East saw them take down Depaul, followed by #22 Georgetown, #2 Pittsburgh, #11 Syracuse, and winning the title against #14 Louisville. Five games, five wins in five days.
With all that being said, The Connecticut Huskies deserved this championship more then any other team in the nation. Not the best team always wins, but the most deserving will always achieve greatness.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The National Championship: Butler vs Connecticut
The two hottest teams in college basketball. The two most deserving teams in the land. The two teams not expected to make this run. Two teams with mastermind head coaches. The two teams with the same goal, but come from totally different backgrounds. On Monday April 4th 2011, the Butler Bulldogs will face off against the Connecticut Huskies for the biggest prize of them all. Each team will go into Monday night's contest flaming hot.
Starting with the underdog Butler, which what they have been the entire NCAA Tournament. The hotness though has come from before the tournament. Butler has not lost a game in over two MONTHS, February 3rd to be exact when they lost to Youngstown State 62-60. After winning the Horizon League in easy fashion, Butler was put into the Southeast region and granted an 8 seed.
The first test would be an Old Dominion team which has veteran experience and many of the experts picks behind them to pull off the upset. For the entire game this was a battle, like it was set out to be, but when push came to shove Matt Howard was at the right place in the right time. Howard propelled Butler into the next round with a layup with no time remaining sinking the Monarchs dreams. The next round would see Howard and company take on the number one seeded Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh coming into the tournament was said to have the easiest road, and was the highest seed to come out of college basketball's best conference. Pittsburgh played well enough to win this game, but apparently not smart enough. At the end of the game Pittsburgh decided to put players on the foul lines with minimal time remaining. After a missed free throw by Pittsburgh, they accidentally foul Matt Howard on the rebound and send him to the line. Howard made the free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock and Butler pulled off the Cinderella upset to defeat the top seed by one point. After another rough push and shove game, there was no way Butler could defeat a Wisconsin team who were coming in after beating a streaking Kansas State team right? Wrong. Butler turned up the defense and held the Badgers high powered offense to 30% shooting from the floor. In the regional semi final Butler would face another strong test in a complete team in Florida. 74-71 in overtime excite anyone? Well it was all the excitement for Butler as they earned themselves another trip to the Final Four. Despite 25 by Vernon Macklin, Florida could not stop the leadership of Shelvin Mack. Behind his 27, Butler was able to overcome the barrage of Florida. Based on seeding and from the outside looking in, the national semi final would be easy as they were facing a Virginia Commonwealth team with an 11 seeding. The two Cinderellas would battle, but Butler would show to be too experienced at the end of this game to pull away with the victory. Going into that game VCU had played in the play in game and defeated one member of all the major conferences. Butler now must win one more to complete a more then historic run, and do what they could not do last year.
Not only has Butler been making history, but Connecticut has been doing the unthinkable. Dating back to the Big East Tournament, Connecticut played on opening day of it, which would mean to gain the crown they would need to win five games in five days. They did just that. They would defeat Depaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Louisville to win the Big East trophy.
Granted with the 3 seed in the West region Connecticut would trampled Bucknell, with an all around team effort and a near triple double by Kemba Walker. They would then meet foe Cincinnati in the second round, where they would shoot poorly but still have enough will to hold off the fighting and fierce Bearcats. Then it would be time to head west, and face San Diego State who had only lost twice all year. Make that three. Kemba was being Kemba, and Connecticut defeated the number two seed behind Walker's 36. Going into this tournament the future match up to watch was going to be Kemba Walker/UConn against Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving/Duke. Fortunately for Connecticut Duke would trip up to Arizona. With a strong will of defense and possibly an angel looking after them Arizona missed two potential game winning threes as time expired. Connecticut behind Walker's 20 and Jeremy Lamb's 19 punched their ticket to the Final Four. If the Arizona game was not a big enough test to them, maybe a pissed off Kentucky team would suit their needs. Kentucky going into the Final Four had defeated the best team in the nation Ohio State, and was looking back to the Maui Invitational final where they got embarrassed by these same Huskies. Throughout this game UConn led. At halftime the Huskies would lead by 10, but then lose it. Fighting back, Jeremy Lamb's smoothness and Kemba Walker's tenacity would hold true. Kentucky could not find a way to score in the final minutes, and UConn defeated Kentucky again 56-55.
Neither team was expected to be in this spot. For Butler they were expected to take a step back after losing their star player in Gordon Hayward, and for Connecticut the middle of the pack would be fitting as they had a roster in rebuild mode. Apparently Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack were enough for Butler to get back to the same spot as last year. For UConn, the player of the year potential of Kemba Walker, and the rise of Jeremy Lamb, proved enough to get to where a well known tournament team should be.
Neither of these teams are the best college basketball team, and neither are the most dominant.It is only fitting though that the two hottest teams in America will be facing off for the National Championship. Both teams come in scorching hot and with gold in their eyes. For Butler this is the second year straight they will be playing for the title, after losing last year to Duke. For Connecticut this will be the closest they have been to the National Title game, since losing to Michigan State in the Final Four in 2009.
Starting with the underdog Butler, which what they have been the entire NCAA Tournament. The hotness though has come from before the tournament. Butler has not lost a game in over two MONTHS, February 3rd to be exact when they lost to Youngstown State 62-60. After winning the Horizon League in easy fashion, Butler was put into the Southeast region and granted an 8 seed.
The first test would be an Old Dominion team which has veteran experience and many of the experts picks behind them to pull off the upset. For the entire game this was a battle, like it was set out to be, but when push came to shove Matt Howard was at the right place in the right time. Howard propelled Butler into the next round with a layup with no time remaining sinking the Monarchs dreams. The next round would see Howard and company take on the number one seeded Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh coming into the tournament was said to have the easiest road, and was the highest seed to come out of college basketball's best conference. Pittsburgh played well enough to win this game, but apparently not smart enough. At the end of the game Pittsburgh decided to put players on the foul lines with minimal time remaining. After a missed free throw by Pittsburgh, they accidentally foul Matt Howard on the rebound and send him to the line. Howard made the free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock and Butler pulled off the Cinderella upset to defeat the top seed by one point. After another rough push and shove game, there was no way Butler could defeat a Wisconsin team who were coming in after beating a streaking Kansas State team right? Wrong. Butler turned up the defense and held the Badgers high powered offense to 30% shooting from the floor. In the regional semi final Butler would face another strong test in a complete team in Florida. 74-71 in overtime excite anyone? Well it was all the excitement for Butler as they earned themselves another trip to the Final Four. Despite 25 by Vernon Macklin, Florida could not stop the leadership of Shelvin Mack. Behind his 27, Butler was able to overcome the barrage of Florida. Based on seeding and from the outside looking in, the national semi final would be easy as they were facing a Virginia Commonwealth team with an 11 seeding. The two Cinderellas would battle, but Butler would show to be too experienced at the end of this game to pull away with the victory. Going into that game VCU had played in the play in game and defeated one member of all the major conferences. Butler now must win one more to complete a more then historic run, and do what they could not do last year.
Not only has Butler been making history, but Connecticut has been doing the unthinkable. Dating back to the Big East Tournament, Connecticut played on opening day of it, which would mean to gain the crown they would need to win five games in five days. They did just that. They would defeat Depaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Louisville to win the Big East trophy.
Granted with the 3 seed in the West region Connecticut would trampled Bucknell, with an all around team effort and a near triple double by Kemba Walker. They would then meet foe Cincinnati in the second round, where they would shoot poorly but still have enough will to hold off the fighting and fierce Bearcats. Then it would be time to head west, and face San Diego State who had only lost twice all year. Make that three. Kemba was being Kemba, and Connecticut defeated the number two seed behind Walker's 36. Going into this tournament the future match up to watch was going to be Kemba Walker/UConn against Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving/Duke. Fortunately for Connecticut Duke would trip up to Arizona. With a strong will of defense and possibly an angel looking after them Arizona missed two potential game winning threes as time expired. Connecticut behind Walker's 20 and Jeremy Lamb's 19 punched their ticket to the Final Four. If the Arizona game was not a big enough test to them, maybe a pissed off Kentucky team would suit their needs. Kentucky going into the Final Four had defeated the best team in the nation Ohio State, and was looking back to the Maui Invitational final where they got embarrassed by these same Huskies. Throughout this game UConn led. At halftime the Huskies would lead by 10, but then lose it. Fighting back, Jeremy Lamb's smoothness and Kemba Walker's tenacity would hold true. Kentucky could not find a way to score in the final minutes, and UConn defeated Kentucky again 56-55.
Neither team was expected to be in this spot. For Butler they were expected to take a step back after losing their star player in Gordon Hayward, and for Connecticut the middle of the pack would be fitting as they had a roster in rebuild mode. Apparently Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack were enough for Butler to get back to the same spot as last year. For UConn, the player of the year potential of Kemba Walker, and the rise of Jeremy Lamb, proved enough to get to where a well known tournament team should be.
Neither of these teams are the best college basketball team, and neither are the most dominant.It is only fitting though that the two hottest teams in America will be facing off for the National Championship. Both teams come in scorching hot and with gold in their eyes. For Butler this is the second year straight they will be playing for the title, after losing last year to Duke. For Connecticut this will be the closest they have been to the National Title game, since losing to Michigan State in the Final Four in 2009.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
National League Predictions
Ahh Opening Day, the day when even the Pirates are a five hundred team. The day were everyone has there slate cleaned and teams begin there what have you done for me lately type approach to winning ball games, but enough nostalgia and lets get on to my picks in the National League this season as we have already heard from Rich.
NL East
Phillies
Braves
Marlins
Mets
Nationals
Can anyone argue against the Phillies in the long run? I mean Wilson Valdez and Ben Fransisco are not going to be everyday starters all season long and in the National League with that pitching staff you can win a lot of ball games without scoring a lot of runs. The Braves are a team that got an offensive upgrade with Dan Uggla but may have lost some consistency in the bullpen with the loss of Billy Wagner and Michael Dunn the other part of that Uggla trade. There going to be putting a lot of pressure on their young closer Craig Kimbrel and it will be interesting to see how the young kid responds to the pressure. The Marlins are thought to be a better team in areas after the Uggla deal and it has been said by people on this blog that they are the team that's going to surprise people in this division. I disagree simply because they haven't proven anything to me in a while, Anibal Sanchez, Rick Vandenhurk and Leo Nunez are unproven commodities as much as people like to believe in them they haven't put together a good season at once. In addition to the Nolasco and Johnson need to remain healthy and Nolasco needs to avoid losing another double digit games. The Mets need to get healthy, they are clearing in a rebuilding stage and they need to do so at the bottom of the standings. If they can be above 500 when Johan returns ill feel a little bit better about this team. The Nationals are simply a year or two away from relevance.
NL Central
Reds
Brewers
Cubs
Cardinals
Houston
Pittsburgh
Yeah I know people, who picks the Reds? I do. Cincinnati is a team that simply gets overlooked by everyone. Let's not forget that this team did lose Harang from the rotation but that's about all they lost. They return guys like Votto, Bruce and Stubbs. Those are young guys with a lot of talent. The Brewers were probably the most active team in the off-season out of this division other than maybe the Cubs, but the Brewers went out and acquired a front line starter in Grienke and a quality number two or three in Marcum. There offense was pretty good last year and I would expect it not to be all that different. The Cubs went out and got Pena and Garza from the Rays, now all they have to hope for is that Pena sees a lot of fastballs and Garza keeps his fastball down. The Cardinals are too hurt to contend this season in the Central, the loss of Wainwright will really hurt them and Carpenter has shown the ability to get hurt as well. Houston and Pittsburgh are two teams that are seemingly just treading water.
NL West
Giants
Dodgers
Rockies
Padres
Arizona
The Giants are the reigning World Series Champions, until otherwise they will be my selection to win the West. The Dodgers and Rockies could switch places here and I wuld be ok with it but I will lean towards the Dodgers finally realizing the amount of talent on this team and not have the distraction of Manny Ramirez in Left Field. The Rockies will be a year older and a year wiser and hopefully with them Jiminez will figure out how to pitch a full season rather than having the best first half ever and the disappearing. The Padres will be crushed by the loss of Adrian Gonzalez and the Diamondbacks just didn't do enough this off-season to change my opinion of them.
NL MVP- Buster Posey. This kid is one of the best up and coming players that I have ever seen. He handles a pitching staff every given night, and maintains a great approach to the plate. In his second full season he will undoubtedly flourish. Other people who could win this award are Carlos Gonzalez, Albert Pujiols, and Joey Votto
NL Cy Young- Tim Lincecum. The "freak" will get back to his ways and dominate once again. After an "off-year" last season he picked it up in the playoffs and will no doubt pick up right where he left off. Others who may win: Ubaldo Jiminez, Clayton Kershaw, and Doc Halladay
NL Rookie of the Year: Brandon Belt. The Giants rookie first basemen impressed enough in camp to make the team right out of the gate and he will take over the duties as an everyday player this year and get lineup protection from Posey who will be hitting above him. Others who may win: Freddie Freeman (Braves), Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Matt Dominguez (Marlins)
NL East
Phillies
Braves
Marlins
Mets
Nationals
Can anyone argue against the Phillies in the long run? I mean Wilson Valdez and Ben Fransisco are not going to be everyday starters all season long and in the National League with that pitching staff you can win a lot of ball games without scoring a lot of runs. The Braves are a team that got an offensive upgrade with Dan Uggla but may have lost some consistency in the bullpen with the loss of Billy Wagner and Michael Dunn the other part of that Uggla trade. There going to be putting a lot of pressure on their young closer Craig Kimbrel and it will be interesting to see how the young kid responds to the pressure. The Marlins are thought to be a better team in areas after the Uggla deal and it has been said by people on this blog that they are the team that's going to surprise people in this division. I disagree simply because they haven't proven anything to me in a while, Anibal Sanchez, Rick Vandenhurk and Leo Nunez are unproven commodities as much as people like to believe in them they haven't put together a good season at once. In addition to the Nolasco and Johnson need to remain healthy and Nolasco needs to avoid losing another double digit games. The Mets need to get healthy, they are clearing in a rebuilding stage and they need to do so at the bottom of the standings. If they can be above 500 when Johan returns ill feel a little bit better about this team. The Nationals are simply a year or two away from relevance.
NL Central
Reds
Brewers
Cubs
Cardinals
Houston
Pittsburgh
Yeah I know people, who picks the Reds? I do. Cincinnati is a team that simply gets overlooked by everyone. Let's not forget that this team did lose Harang from the rotation but that's about all they lost. They return guys like Votto, Bruce and Stubbs. Those are young guys with a lot of talent. The Brewers were probably the most active team in the off-season out of this division other than maybe the Cubs, but the Brewers went out and acquired a front line starter in Grienke and a quality number two or three in Marcum. There offense was pretty good last year and I would expect it not to be all that different. The Cubs went out and got Pena and Garza from the Rays, now all they have to hope for is that Pena sees a lot of fastballs and Garza keeps his fastball down. The Cardinals are too hurt to contend this season in the Central, the loss of Wainwright will really hurt them and Carpenter has shown the ability to get hurt as well. Houston and Pittsburgh are two teams that are seemingly just treading water.
NL West
Giants
Dodgers
Rockies
Padres
Arizona
The Giants are the reigning World Series Champions, until otherwise they will be my selection to win the West. The Dodgers and Rockies could switch places here and I wuld be ok with it but I will lean towards the Dodgers finally realizing the amount of talent on this team and not have the distraction of Manny Ramirez in Left Field. The Rockies will be a year older and a year wiser and hopefully with them Jiminez will figure out how to pitch a full season rather than having the best first half ever and the disappearing. The Padres will be crushed by the loss of Adrian Gonzalez and the Diamondbacks just didn't do enough this off-season to change my opinion of them.
NL MVP- Buster Posey. This kid is one of the best up and coming players that I have ever seen. He handles a pitching staff every given night, and maintains a great approach to the plate. In his second full season he will undoubtedly flourish. Other people who could win this award are Carlos Gonzalez, Albert Pujiols, and Joey Votto
NL Cy Young- Tim Lincecum. The "freak" will get back to his ways and dominate once again. After an "off-year" last season he picked it up in the playoffs and will no doubt pick up right where he left off. Others who may win: Ubaldo Jiminez, Clayton Kershaw, and Doc Halladay
NL Rookie of the Year: Brandon Belt. The Giants rookie first basemen impressed enough in camp to make the team right out of the gate and he will take over the duties as an everyday player this year and get lineup protection from Posey who will be hitting above him. Others who may win: Freddie Freeman (Braves), Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Matt Dominguez (Marlins)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
American League Predictions
AL EAST
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays
I am picking the Boston Red Sox as the clear favorite to come out of the AL East because of the acquisition of 1B Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez extends their lineup and makes it deeper. Barring injuries to the Red Sox like those of which they had to endure last season, I don’t see why the Sox can’t win 100+ games. I expect the Yankees to finish second based on pedigree. Their starting rotation will struggle with Ivan Nova learning to pitch in the majors for a full season and Freddy Garcia not being as effective has he has in the past. The Rays will compete all the way to the end, but with aging veterans in Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon and young pitching from Jeremy Hellickson will be their Achilles heal at the end of the season. I believe this year the Orioles will climb out of the AL East cellar due to off season signings of Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee, Kevin Gregg, and J.J. Hardy. The biggest reason why this will be a better season for the Orioles is because of their skipper Buck Showalter. Showalter took over halfway through last season and had a record winning over .600. Showalter knows how to get the best out of his players and with a full season as the manager, don’t be surprised if the Orioles play spoiler and win 70+ games. The Blue Jays draw the short straw in this division. Last year we saw Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow mature and Jose Bautista blast 50 home runs, but there isn’t much else going on for the Blue Jays. The pitching staff still needs to develop, the bullpen lost their closer in Gregg and their lineup isn’t that deep past Bautista and Lind.
AL CENTRAL
1. Tigers
2. Twins
3. White Sox
4. Royals
5. Indians
Once again the central division will most likely come down to the last week of the season with the top three teams (Tigers, Twins, and White Sox) right in the mix of everything. The reason I put the Tigers at the top of the division is because of the free agent signings of Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit. I also strongly believe that Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer will have bounce back years. Both spent time in the minors working on their mechanics and pitches and both pitched effectively the latter part of last season. The Twins are very capable of taking this division, but the health of 1B Justin Morneau is a big question mark. If he doesn’t have a productive season, then the Twins will struggle for power in the middle of the lineup. Also, Carl Pavano won’t pitch as well as he did last year and Francisco Liriano has been talked about here and there in trade rumors. The White Sox are another team capable of taking down this division, but their question marks are the health of Jake Peavy and the closing abilities of Matt Thorton. But, with Adam Dunn hitting in the middle of the lineup now, it’s possibly, but can the starting rotation of Peavy, Buerhle, Danks, Floyd, Jackson keep it together for an entire season. The Royals will finish ahead of the Indians as the Indians do not have much going for them in either the hitting or pitching department besides catching sensation Carlos Santana (who is also coming off a major knee injury).
AL WEST
1. Athletics
2. Rangers
3. Angels
4. Mariners
I chose the Athletics as my sleeper team this year and I am sticking by them. They will win their division and their starting rotation of Cahill, Gonzalez, Anderson, and Braden will lead the way. All four matured a lot last year and now with another year of experience under their belt, expect them to soar. Also, the A’s bullpen is one of the stronger ones in the AL with Wuertz, Balfour, Breslow, Fuentes, and Bailey. Their offense also got a shot in the arm with acquisition of CF David DeJesus who had a nice year with the Royals last year before getting injured. Despite the Rangers winning the division last year, I think they will have a small fallout with the loss of Cliff Lee and trade rumor speculations of Michael Young. The Rangers tried to fill Lee’s spot with Brandon Webb but has not pitched since the 2009 season and is coming off shoulder injury/surgery. Colby Lewis won’t pitch as effectively as he did last season and Adrian Beltre won’t put up the same numbers as he did in Boston. The Angels are a tricky team to pick as it is hard to go against Mike Scioscia, but if you look at the team as a whole, some red flags pop up. The Angels outfield is aging with Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vernon Wells. Kendray Morales will be starting the season on the DL and their starting rotation doesn’t go past three deep. Weaver, Santana, and Haren will pitch well and put up their expected numbers, but Scott Kazmir has struggled badly this spring and I expect it to continue into the regular season. The Mariners did not do much in the offseason to improve their team around King Felix and Ichiro Suzuki.
Predictions:
AL MVP: Evan Longoria
Going into his 4th season, Longoria should have a breakout year belting 30 + HR, 100+ RBI’s and bat above .300 as he has really gotten to know the pitching in the American League
AL CY Young: Justin Verlander
Even though Felix Hernandez won it last year with tremendous pitching numbers, I think the number of innings pitcher over the past couple years coming into this year will catch up with him and cause arm fatigue. Verlander pitched well last year and has electric stuff and this is the year he puts it all together to have a CY Young type of season.
AL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson
This kid has excellent control, a lot of confidence in himself and his stuff. He possesses one of the better change-ups in the game already as a young pitcher. With Price and Shields to lead the way for him, I expect Hellickson to run away with the Rookie of the Year award.
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays
I am picking the Boston Red Sox as the clear favorite to come out of the AL East because of the acquisition of 1B Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez extends their lineup and makes it deeper. Barring injuries to the Red Sox like those of which they had to endure last season, I don’t see why the Sox can’t win 100+ games. I expect the Yankees to finish second based on pedigree. Their starting rotation will struggle with Ivan Nova learning to pitch in the majors for a full season and Freddy Garcia not being as effective has he has in the past. The Rays will compete all the way to the end, but with aging veterans in Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon and young pitching from Jeremy Hellickson will be their Achilles heal at the end of the season. I believe this year the Orioles will climb out of the AL East cellar due to off season signings of Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee, Kevin Gregg, and J.J. Hardy. The biggest reason why this will be a better season for the Orioles is because of their skipper Buck Showalter. Showalter took over halfway through last season and had a record winning over .600. Showalter knows how to get the best out of his players and with a full season as the manager, don’t be surprised if the Orioles play spoiler and win 70+ games. The Blue Jays draw the short straw in this division. Last year we saw Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow mature and Jose Bautista blast 50 home runs, but there isn’t much else going on for the Blue Jays. The pitching staff still needs to develop, the bullpen lost their closer in Gregg and their lineup isn’t that deep past Bautista and Lind.
AL CENTRAL
1. Tigers
2. Twins
3. White Sox
4. Royals
5. Indians
Once again the central division will most likely come down to the last week of the season with the top three teams (Tigers, Twins, and White Sox) right in the mix of everything. The reason I put the Tigers at the top of the division is because of the free agent signings of Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit. I also strongly believe that Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer will have bounce back years. Both spent time in the minors working on their mechanics and pitches and both pitched effectively the latter part of last season. The Twins are very capable of taking this division, but the health of 1B Justin Morneau is a big question mark. If he doesn’t have a productive season, then the Twins will struggle for power in the middle of the lineup. Also, Carl Pavano won’t pitch as well as he did last year and Francisco Liriano has been talked about here and there in trade rumors. The White Sox are another team capable of taking down this division, but their question marks are the health of Jake Peavy and the closing abilities of Matt Thorton. But, with Adam Dunn hitting in the middle of the lineup now, it’s possibly, but can the starting rotation of Peavy, Buerhle, Danks, Floyd, Jackson keep it together for an entire season. The Royals will finish ahead of the Indians as the Indians do not have much going for them in either the hitting or pitching department besides catching sensation Carlos Santana (who is also coming off a major knee injury).
AL WEST
1. Athletics
2. Rangers
3. Angels
4. Mariners
I chose the Athletics as my sleeper team this year and I am sticking by them. They will win their division and their starting rotation of Cahill, Gonzalez, Anderson, and Braden will lead the way. All four matured a lot last year and now with another year of experience under their belt, expect them to soar. Also, the A’s bullpen is one of the stronger ones in the AL with Wuertz, Balfour, Breslow, Fuentes, and Bailey. Their offense also got a shot in the arm with acquisition of CF David DeJesus who had a nice year with the Royals last year before getting injured. Despite the Rangers winning the division last year, I think they will have a small fallout with the loss of Cliff Lee and trade rumor speculations of Michael Young. The Rangers tried to fill Lee’s spot with Brandon Webb but has not pitched since the 2009 season and is coming off shoulder injury/surgery. Colby Lewis won’t pitch as effectively as he did last season and Adrian Beltre won’t put up the same numbers as he did in Boston. The Angels are a tricky team to pick as it is hard to go against Mike Scioscia, but if you look at the team as a whole, some red flags pop up. The Angels outfield is aging with Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vernon Wells. Kendray Morales will be starting the season on the DL and their starting rotation doesn’t go past three deep. Weaver, Santana, and Haren will pitch well and put up their expected numbers, but Scott Kazmir has struggled badly this spring and I expect it to continue into the regular season. The Mariners did not do much in the offseason to improve their team around King Felix and Ichiro Suzuki.
Predictions:
AL MVP: Evan Longoria
Going into his 4th season, Longoria should have a breakout year belting 30 + HR, 100+ RBI’s and bat above .300 as he has really gotten to know the pitching in the American League
AL CY Young: Justin Verlander
Even though Felix Hernandez won it last year with tremendous pitching numbers, I think the number of innings pitcher over the past couple years coming into this year will catch up with him and cause arm fatigue. Verlander pitched well last year and has electric stuff and this is the year he puts it all together to have a CY Young type of season.
AL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson
This kid has excellent control, a lot of confidence in himself and his stuff. He possesses one of the better change-ups in the game already as a young pitcher. With Price and Shields to lead the way for him, I expect Hellickson to run away with the Rookie of the Year award.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Final Four
We started with 68 teams, but now we are down to the 2011 Final Four. Two names well known to the biggest stage, one who is a repeat from last year, and one who can make history as the biggest underdog ever.
The University of Connecticut has been run all year by the coaching of Jim Calhoun, and the stellar superstar play of Kemba Walker. In 19 days the Connecticut Huskies have won 9 games. Five straight wins to capture the Big East Championship started this hot streak, followed by an opening round beating on the number 14 seed Bucknell. When the field was narrowed to 32, the Huskies faced off against Big East foe Cincinnati, and defeated them for a second time in a see saw brawl. After that UConn headed to the west coast for their regional Sweet 16 match up against San Diego State. Despite the tenacity of the Mountain West Conference winner, Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker combined for 60 points to defeat SDSU. Finally in the Elite 8, Connecticut led by their two stud guards, were able to overcome a late run by Arizona. The Wildcats had two chances to win it at the end, but could not take advantage. Connecticut will go on to the Final Four, being the hottest team in America, adding in the fact that they have a leader like Kemba Walker, who has made big shot after big shot. The Connecticut Huskies may be the team to beat of these four, but as we have seen in this tournament, anything can and will happen.
The Butler Bulldogs will make their second consecutive trip to the Final Four, after making yet ANOTHER epic run. Coming into the season Butler had to face the fact that their best player from a year before (Gordon Hayward) was now gone. Despite losing their best shooter the Bulldogs still had two of the key pieces that brought this team to the promised land a year before. Shelvin Mack has arguably played better then any guard this entire tournament. Matt Howard, the heart and soul of Butler, made game winning shots in both their victory over Old Dominion, and their first upset against the number one seed Pittsburgh. The upsets did not end their as stellar defense held the number four seed Wisconsin to 30% shooting, and sent them home early. The biggest test was yet to come, as they took on the number two seeded Florida Gators who had been streaking as of late as well. Another back and forth battle, saw Butler do the impossible and defeat the Gators who are known to be a tournament team in the recent past. Mack's brilliance shined as he scored 27 points, five in the overtime period. What people may not realize is that Butler has won 13 straight games. Butler will hope for revenge after losing in the National Championship last year against Duke.
On selection Sunday the entire world was shocked to see the name Virginia Commonwealth name be called. Media, critics, and fans all were disappointed as they believed teams like Colorado and Virginia Tech were snubbed. Two weeks later we now find VCU as one of the Final Four teams. VCU has won the most games in this years tournament, as they had to defeat USC to get into the round of 64. After that they took down Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas. For Virginia Commonwealth they have made two statements. The first statement made was that they DID belong in this tournament. This choice by the committee was questioned at first, but no one can argue whether they belong or not. The second statement made was that the little conference teams can compete and defeat the power conferences. In this NCAA run, the Rams have defeated teams in the Pac 10, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and the Big East, which sent 11 teams to the tournament. Led by the point guard play of Joey Rodriguez, and the all around game of Jamie Skeen VCU will be playing in the Final Four, and the third 11 seed ever to get to this point.
John Calipari had all the talent in the world last year, but could not vault his young Kentucky team into the final weekend. After seeing the likes of Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton and John Wall all leave early for the draft, what was Kentucky to do? Reload. Kentucky reloaded again with more talent then imaginable with Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight. After early season struggles in winning road games, Kentucky finds themselves winning four games in neutral sites and a trip to the National Semifinals. For John Calipari this is the first time he sees the Final Four since bringing a Memphis team there years ago. That team lost to Kansas in 2008 despite a near triple double by current NBA star Derrick Rose. Kentucky in their past two games went against the toughest number two seed in North Carolina, to go along with their Sweet 16 victory against arguably the best team in the nation in Ohio State. Brandon Knight has been one of the most exciting players thus far, but a familiar face has been the reason for the success. Despite the youth strength Kentucky portrays the accelerated play of big man Josh Harrellson has really paid dividends. For Kentucky everyone is playing well, but the scary aspect is that we have not seen the best of star freshmen Terrence Jones yet.
Final Four Match ups
#11 VCU against #Butler- Cinderella vs Cinderella. David vs David. Only one of these small program teams will move on, but in all reality this may be the most exciting and unthinkable Final Four match up of ALL TIME. VCU will be playing with the chip on their shoulder that they have been playing with all tournament, while Butler seeks gaining the trophy which they see as destiny.
#4 Kentucky vs #3 Connecticut- The rematch. In game one back in November, UConn defeated Kentucky by 17 points, to win the Maui Invitational. The difference between now and then, Kentucky has excelled to be one of the most dangerous teams in the nation due to stellar inside and outside game. Buckle up for the ride, as Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker will be battling at all costs for their chance at the National Title.
The unique Final Four features two big time programs facing off , and two Cinderella hopefuls trying to do the impossible. One thing is for sure, all four teams are here for the same reason... WIN.
The University of Connecticut has been run all year by the coaching of Jim Calhoun, and the stellar superstar play of Kemba Walker. In 19 days the Connecticut Huskies have won 9 games. Five straight wins to capture the Big East Championship started this hot streak, followed by an opening round beating on the number 14 seed Bucknell. When the field was narrowed to 32, the Huskies faced off against Big East foe Cincinnati, and defeated them for a second time in a see saw brawl. After that UConn headed to the west coast for their regional Sweet 16 match up against San Diego State. Despite the tenacity of the Mountain West Conference winner, Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker combined for 60 points to defeat SDSU. Finally in the Elite 8, Connecticut led by their two stud guards, were able to overcome a late run by Arizona. The Wildcats had two chances to win it at the end, but could not take advantage. Connecticut will go on to the Final Four, being the hottest team in America, adding in the fact that they have a leader like Kemba Walker, who has made big shot after big shot. The Connecticut Huskies may be the team to beat of these four, but as we have seen in this tournament, anything can and will happen.
The Butler Bulldogs will make their second consecutive trip to the Final Four, after making yet ANOTHER epic run. Coming into the season Butler had to face the fact that their best player from a year before (Gordon Hayward) was now gone. Despite losing their best shooter the Bulldogs still had two of the key pieces that brought this team to the promised land a year before. Shelvin Mack has arguably played better then any guard this entire tournament. Matt Howard, the heart and soul of Butler, made game winning shots in both their victory over Old Dominion, and their first upset against the number one seed Pittsburgh. The upsets did not end their as stellar defense held the number four seed Wisconsin to 30% shooting, and sent them home early. The biggest test was yet to come, as they took on the number two seeded Florida Gators who had been streaking as of late as well. Another back and forth battle, saw Butler do the impossible and defeat the Gators who are known to be a tournament team in the recent past. Mack's brilliance shined as he scored 27 points, five in the overtime period. What people may not realize is that Butler has won 13 straight games. Butler will hope for revenge after losing in the National Championship last year against Duke.
On selection Sunday the entire world was shocked to see the name Virginia Commonwealth name be called. Media, critics, and fans all were disappointed as they believed teams like Colorado and Virginia Tech were snubbed. Two weeks later we now find VCU as one of the Final Four teams. VCU has won the most games in this years tournament, as they had to defeat USC to get into the round of 64. After that they took down Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas. For Virginia Commonwealth they have made two statements. The first statement made was that they DID belong in this tournament. This choice by the committee was questioned at first, but no one can argue whether they belong or not. The second statement made was that the little conference teams can compete and defeat the power conferences. In this NCAA run, the Rams have defeated teams in the Pac 10, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and the Big East, which sent 11 teams to the tournament. Led by the point guard play of Joey Rodriguez, and the all around game of Jamie Skeen VCU will be playing in the Final Four, and the third 11 seed ever to get to this point.
John Calipari had all the talent in the world last year, but could not vault his young Kentucky team into the final weekend. After seeing the likes of Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton and John Wall all leave early for the draft, what was Kentucky to do? Reload. Kentucky reloaded again with more talent then imaginable with Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight. After early season struggles in winning road games, Kentucky finds themselves winning four games in neutral sites and a trip to the National Semifinals. For John Calipari this is the first time he sees the Final Four since bringing a Memphis team there years ago. That team lost to Kansas in 2008 despite a near triple double by current NBA star Derrick Rose. Kentucky in their past two games went against the toughest number two seed in North Carolina, to go along with their Sweet 16 victory against arguably the best team in the nation in Ohio State. Brandon Knight has been one of the most exciting players thus far, but a familiar face has been the reason for the success. Despite the youth strength Kentucky portrays the accelerated play of big man Josh Harrellson has really paid dividends. For Kentucky everyone is playing well, but the scary aspect is that we have not seen the best of star freshmen Terrence Jones yet.
Final Four Match ups
#11 VCU against #Butler- Cinderella vs Cinderella. David vs David. Only one of these small program teams will move on, but in all reality this may be the most exciting and unthinkable Final Four match up of ALL TIME. VCU will be playing with the chip on their shoulder that they have been playing with all tournament, while Butler seeks gaining the trophy which they see as destiny.
#4 Kentucky vs #3 Connecticut- The rematch. In game one back in November, UConn defeated Kentucky by 17 points, to win the Maui Invitational. The difference between now and then, Kentucky has excelled to be one of the most dangerous teams in the nation due to stellar inside and outside game. Buckle up for the ride, as Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker will be battling at all costs for their chance at the National Title.
The unique Final Four features two big time programs facing off , and two Cinderella hopefuls trying to do the impossible. One thing is for sure, all four teams are here for the same reason... WIN.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Big LEAST, Not Big East
It was the greatest thing that could have happened to the Big East Conference two Sundays ago. Eleven of the sixteen teams in the conference were selected to take part in the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. This was a record for representatives from one conference making it into the national tournament. We sit here a week later and see the best case scenario, turn into the worst.
After the first weekend of tournament play, the Big East Conference is only sending two (#3 Connecticut, #11 Marquette) of those original eleven to the Sweet 16. The top EIGHT teams in the conference are all eliminated from the tournament. Of those nine that are back at school, four were a five seed or higher, and three were a three, two or one seeds. Also, of those nine teams, FIVE lost to seeds ten or lower.
The win/loss result is not even the big deal here, it is the way most (not all) of the teams in the conference went out. #9 Villanova lost to #9George Mason in the first round, because they could not execute at the end of the game. It did not help there case that there best players, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes showed up for only the first half. Villanova's season ended with their team losing six straight games. #4 Louisville had their season come to a crashing end, when they were shocked and upset by #13 Morehead State. Louisville may have been looking forward to the next rounds, but they sure overlooked Morehead St. Losing with seconds left on the clock makes this situation worse for the Cardinals. No excuse why a Big East elite, loses to an Ohio Valley team, NONE. Two of the Big East #6 seeds lost in the first round of the dance, as #11 seeds Gonzaga and Virginia Commonwealth defeat St. John's and Georgetown respectively. In a year where St. John's defeated the rest of the Big East, this game held true of how they are overrated. They can't win away from Madison Square Garden, and they struggle against lower teams. The DJ Kennedy injury affected this team, but even with him they get beat by Gonzaga. Georgetown once again could not get into their offense, and could not handle a team that should not be in the tournament. VCU is making noise and all, but the fact is if there were basketball people on the selection commitee, then VCU does not even get that opportunity. Georgetown basically lost to an NIT team when it mattered the most. The highest seeds the Big East had won one game, then got beat in the round of 32. #2 Notre Dame was smothered by #10 Florida State. Notre Dame was never in this game, being down double digits almost the entire game. Florida State defeated Duke, but in all honestly not that great of a team as they have lost to the likes of Auburn, Maryland, and Virginia Tech (twice). Notre Dame was exposed, and proven to be one of the most vulnerable teams in the tournament. Pittsburgh, supposidly the best team in the Big East, gets the pumpkin thrown on them, as Cinderella Butler wins this game. At the end of this game Pittsburgh has a chance to win this game by making a free throw. Pittsburgh misses the free throw with minimal time remaining. To make it worse, the team is set inside the blocks on the free throw line, which they should not have been because at that point there was no time to do anything. As Matt Howard grabs the rebound, Pittsburgh fouls him and Butler wins the game at the line. So for the so called "best," of the Big East, they lose because of coaching, and just lack of common sense in basketball. No blaming the refs for making the CORRECT call. The Big East Conference all year was the class of college basketball, and that one conference everyone feared. Looking at it now, the Big East seems to only fear themselves as #3 Syracuse, and #6 Cincinnati were bounced by the only two BE teams remaining.
The only two remaining teams are two teams that deserve to be there. #11 Marquette took out fellow Big East foe #3 Syracuse, in a ground and pound game. #3 Connecticut defeated #6 Cinncinnati, to continue their hot streak. I am not trying to take anything away from either of these teams, but these are games that they have won already. Before I make my next statement, I would like to say that UConn has been playing arguablly the best basketball in America as of late, and is the hottest team, by far so cudos to them. Both UConn and Marquette defeated their opponent earlier in the year. You csn say that it is harder to beat a team two times in a row, but if you already know how to beat a team, you should be able to beat them again. Period.
So, going into the Sweet 16 the Big East has two teams left representing them. After beating eachother up all year in that conference, they may have been a bit tired, but in all reality the conference as a whole may have been a tad overrated.
After the first weekend of tournament play, the Big East Conference is only sending two (#3 Connecticut, #11 Marquette) of those original eleven to the Sweet 16. The top EIGHT teams in the conference are all eliminated from the tournament. Of those nine that are back at school, four were a five seed or higher, and three were a three, two or one seeds. Also, of those nine teams, FIVE lost to seeds ten or lower.
The win/loss result is not even the big deal here, it is the way most (not all) of the teams in the conference went out. #9 Villanova lost to #9George Mason in the first round, because they could not execute at the end of the game. It did not help there case that there best players, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes showed up for only the first half. Villanova's season ended with their team losing six straight games. #4 Louisville had their season come to a crashing end, when they were shocked and upset by #13 Morehead State. Louisville may have been looking forward to the next rounds, but they sure overlooked Morehead St. Losing with seconds left on the clock makes this situation worse for the Cardinals. No excuse why a Big East elite, loses to an Ohio Valley team, NONE. Two of the Big East #6 seeds lost in the first round of the dance, as #11 seeds Gonzaga and Virginia Commonwealth defeat St. John's and Georgetown respectively. In a year where St. John's defeated the rest of the Big East, this game held true of how they are overrated. They can't win away from Madison Square Garden, and they struggle against lower teams. The DJ Kennedy injury affected this team, but even with him they get beat by Gonzaga. Georgetown once again could not get into their offense, and could not handle a team that should not be in the tournament. VCU is making noise and all, but the fact is if there were basketball people on the selection commitee, then VCU does not even get that opportunity. Georgetown basically lost to an NIT team when it mattered the most. The highest seeds the Big East had won one game, then got beat in the round of 32. #2 Notre Dame was smothered by #10 Florida State. Notre Dame was never in this game, being down double digits almost the entire game. Florida State defeated Duke, but in all honestly not that great of a team as they have lost to the likes of Auburn, Maryland, and Virginia Tech (twice). Notre Dame was exposed, and proven to be one of the most vulnerable teams in the tournament. Pittsburgh, supposidly the best team in the Big East, gets the pumpkin thrown on them, as Cinderella Butler wins this game. At the end of this game Pittsburgh has a chance to win this game by making a free throw. Pittsburgh misses the free throw with minimal time remaining. To make it worse, the team is set inside the blocks on the free throw line, which they should not have been because at that point there was no time to do anything. As Matt Howard grabs the rebound, Pittsburgh fouls him and Butler wins the game at the line. So for the so called "best," of the Big East, they lose because of coaching, and just lack of common sense in basketball. No blaming the refs for making the CORRECT call. The Big East Conference all year was the class of college basketball, and that one conference everyone feared. Looking at it now, the Big East seems to only fear themselves as #3 Syracuse, and #6 Cincinnati were bounced by the only two BE teams remaining.
The only two remaining teams are two teams that deserve to be there. #11 Marquette took out fellow Big East foe #3 Syracuse, in a ground and pound game. #3 Connecticut defeated #6 Cinncinnati, to continue their hot streak. I am not trying to take anything away from either of these teams, but these are games that they have won already. Before I make my next statement, I would like to say that UConn has been playing arguablly the best basketball in America as of late, and is the hottest team, by far so cudos to them. Both UConn and Marquette defeated their opponent earlier in the year. You csn say that it is harder to beat a team two times in a row, but if you already know how to beat a team, you should be able to beat them again. Period.
So, going into the Sweet 16 the Big East has two teams left representing them. After beating eachother up all year in that conference, they may have been a bit tired, but in all reality the conference as a whole may have been a tad overrated.
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