We have an exciting final Four ahead next weekend.
Loyola of Chicago meets Michigan, the first time the MVC and Big Ten have met in the Final Four since 1979. That year was Magic Johnson and Michigan State beating Larry Bird and Indiana State.
Villanova and Kansas meet in the other semifinal. Jay Wright's team is looking for a hattrick vs. the Big 12 after beating West Virginia and Texas Tech. This contest features Jalen Brunson vs. Devonte Graham.
Should be fun in San Antonio.
March Madness is in full swing and it has been awesome!
We have seen new stars shine, upset city like never before in UMBC, buzzer beaters like Michigan's Jordan Poole against Houston.
The cream has been rising to the top. Villanova, Kansas, Duke, Kentucky have all advanced to the Sweet 16.
i"m enjoying my hits on SportsCenter, covering the tournament.
The road to San Antonio will be interesting. One week til we know which teams are in the Final Four!
The field is set and March Madness will be special.
I feel for some of the teams r\that were left out. They could sate their case, but the committee thought otherwise. I was surprised that Oklahoma State did not make it. Forget about numbers, the Cowboys beat Kansas twice, won at West Virginia, beat Texas Tech and Florida State. That shoud have been enough to get in.
Now comes the fun. Looking for a first-round upset, I think Charleston of the CAA will battle a shorthanded Auburn team. Bruce Pearl did a great job but his team could be vulnerable.
March Madness is here. Arizona State and Oklahoma struggled down the stretch and got in. We will see if someone can make a run like VCU and George Mason in the past.
My picks to make the Final Four: Villanova, Virginia, Michigan State and Gonzaga. I like the Spartans to cut down the nets.
I love Championship week!
Teams that have had a tough season get another opportunity to make a run at the big dance. Favorites get the chance to work on their resume and improve their seed. Winning a conference tournament is something you remember the rest of your life. Nobody can take that experience away from you and you become a hero for years.
This has been a 3acky season , so you never know which tea, can surprise. We already saw a buzzer beater getting Radford in. Lipscomb made it to the tourney for the first time. Michigan had a special run to win the Big Ten tourney.
I am excited to be calling the WCC in Las Vegas and the SEC in St. Louis. It should be awesome with a capital A! Gonzaga hasn’t missed the WCC final since 1997! That is an amazing stream of conference final appearances.
I love college basketball, but the past few days were very tough for the sport.
First there was the Yahoo Sports report dealing all sorts of allegations involving former and current NCAA players. Pat Forde detailed all sorts of things, and it left a major black cloud. Two players — Eric Davis of Texas and Malik Pope of San Diego State—were held out of weekend games pending further investigation.
I was crushed reading this, but not shocked at these alleged happenings. The sleazy characters prey on these kids when they are in eighth grade. This is a nightmare for the NCAA and college basketball.
Then came the ESPN bombshell that Arizona coach Sean Miller was caught on a wiretap talking about a $100,000 payout to star center DeAndre Ayton. Miller and the school mutually agreed that the step away from the team for Saturday’s game at Oregon, with the Wildcats lost in overtime. Ayton played in that contest.
Arizona must clean house, starting with Sean Miller. There is no place for making efforts to buy players. I believe the Wildcats must be banned from March Madness if all of this is true and the wiretap is pretty amazing proof. Ayton should be declared ineligible if he took the alleged cash mentioned in FBI report.
It is simple. Ban them for using an ineligible player. Miller has now ruined his coaching career.
We are just a few weeks away from Selection Sunday. March Madness should be very exciting because it is wide open.
There are so many teams on the bubble, so the end of the regular season, and Championship Week, will be vital. Each week you see so many surprising results.
One team that has been struggling is Oklahoma. Five straight losses and 2-8 over the last 10 games. Trae Young and company need to straighten things out.
One team coming on is Baylor. The Bears got a big win over Texas Tech.
This is a great time of the season.
The NCAA committee has come out with their rankings.
Villanova, Virginia, Xavier and Purdue are the 1-seeds.
Michigan State, which beat Purdue Saturday, was a 3-seed. Are there 10 better teams than the Spartans in America?
There were several great sports stories over the weekend.
Duke was stunned by St.John’s. Texas knocked off Oklahoma. Washington beat Arizona on a buzzer-beater.
I enjoyed calling the Alabama-florida game.
The highlight of the weekend took place in Minnesota. Eagles over Patriots. Congrats to coach Pederson, Nick Foles, Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and the entire team. Underdogs through the playoffs, they beat Tom Brady and company.
I had a great time calling the Baylor-Florida game over the weekend. The Gators were on fire with trifectas in the win. Chris Chiozza had a big game for Florida.
Kentucky got a big win at West Virginia. Never count John Calipari and his young ‘Cats out. They rallied in the second half to get a big W, the first over a ranked team this season.
There were a lot of upsets last wee. Penn State handed Ohio State its first league loss of the season. NC State and Virginia Tech beat North Carolina, South Carolina beat Florida. And Mississippi Valley State won its first game of the season!
It has been a fun season so far.
The Super Bowl is set as Tom Brady and the Patriots advanced with a comeback win over the Jaguars in the AFC Championship. It did not took good when the Pats trailed 20-10. Rob Gronkowski was injured and lost for the rest of the game.
Brady threw two touchdowns to Danny Amendola and New England moved to a record 10th Super Bowl. Congrats to Bill Belichick and his team.
Next up is a showdown against the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. Nick Foles and company trailed Minnesota 7-0 before putting up 38 straight points.
Two great fan bases will go to Minnesota for the Super Bowl.
Kentucky showed some toughness late during its win over Vanderbilt over the weekend. Big Blue Nation had to be smiling. Vandy staged a late challenge.
John Calipari’s team survived a gutty effort by the Commodores. The ‘Cats are young but can make noise in the tough SEC. Calipari can motivate this team as they move forward. I enjoyed calling their game on Saturday.
I was so impressed with Virginia and its defense holding North Carolina to 49 points. The Cavaliers make the extra pass to get good shots. Tony Bennett has a legit Final Four contender.
Tough weekend for blue bloods Duke, Kentucky and Not Carolina. The Blue Devil loss was stunning as NC State had been blown out by Notre Dame earlier in the week.
West Virginia got a big win over Oklahoma.
Only three teams entered the post-Christmad ranks unbeaten. Villanova, Arizona State and TCU remained unblemished after Miami fell to New Mexico State in Hawaii.
This has been an exciting season. Just look at Wofford obver North Carolina, Fort Wayne over Indiana and Wrght State over Georgia Tech.
That is why college basketball is great. It is unpredictable, baby!
It was another wild and wacky weekend in college hoops.
Notre Dame los to Indiana. NC State fell to UNC-Greensboro. Florida State lost to Oklahoma State.
I had a blast calling the Virginia Tech-Kentucky showdown at Rupp Arena. Big Blue Nation got 11 trifectas in getting to the winner's circle. It was a big test for John Calipari's young Wildcats. They passed it and rewarded the passionate fans.
What a week in college basketball.
For those who like surprises in college basketball, just look at last week. Boston College stunned then #1-Duke. Florida State and Loyola-Chicago both upset Florida. Kansas was shocked by Washington. Notre Dame was stunned at home by Ball State. Minnesota lost to Nebraska. Georgia Tech lost to Wofford.
That is what makes the sport so great. An five-star player has a rough night and plays like a three-star performer, Then you have a three-star player raising his game up to a different level. That is how upsets occur.
College basketball has parity. It is in for a wild ride at times.
I am excited to be going to Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic this week. It is always special and we raise awareness in the battle against cancer.
I will be calling the renewal of former Big East rivals Syracuse and Connecticut. The other game features Villanova against Gonzaga. The Garden should be rocking and rolling and it will be an emotional night.
I am sure Jimmy V will be looking down from heaven. His legacy lives on through the V Foundation as wwe must be this dreaded disease. I'm excited to watch two coaches that have cut down the nets, Jim Boeheim and Kevin Ollie, do battle. Tysu Battle, Oshae Brisett, Jalen Adams, there will be plenty of young talent on display on a special evening,
I had a great time calling games down at the Atlantis in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving,
Congratulations to Villanova on winning the Battle4Atlantis. Jay Wright's team is so sound and Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges are true stars for the Wildcats.
The tournament had its share of surprises. Northern Iowa made a great run to make the final. NC State stunned Arizona. Purdue, which came in ranked, lost twice.
The Wildcats going 0-3 was the biggest shock. Sean Mller's team may have felt the affects of the FBI investigation.
Now it is off to Michigan-North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
I am looking forward to calling the Battle4Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
It has a great field with Villanova, Purdue, Arizona, NC State and SMU among the participants. It should be a great event. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, enjoy the feast!
The college hoop season is under way, baby!
I am excited to be calling the Kansas-Kentucky game on Tuesday in my opener, Two traditional powers will do battle.
The start of the season saw diaper dandies doing well. Marvin Bagley had a pair of double-doubles for Duke. Jaylen Novell of Washington had 32 big points in a win over Belmont.
There were a few interesting results. Big Blue Nation sweated as Utah Valley led by 12 in the second half before the Wildcats responded. Indiana lost by 21 to Indiana State. Tulsa lost to Lamar. Wake Forest was beaten by Georgia Southern. California lost to Cal-Riverside.
The fun is under way, baby!
It was a great weekend at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate tennis tournament. Congratulations to the University of Florida, which won the men's and women's titles.
We enjoyed hosting the teams, players and coaches at a party at my house. And we raised $ for the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research.