March Madness is upon us. Well, already upon us and in more than just full swing. We’ve seen the number one OVERALL seed, Kansas, taken out by a team from the Missouri Valley Conference, Northern Iowa. Need I run that by again? NORTHERN IOWA defeated KANSAS, the number one team IN THE COUNTRY. So, BRACKET BUSTER ALERT! To those who do the tournament challenge and fill out brackets year after year and suffer through agony and pain, I’m sorry for I do feel your pain. My bracket had Kansas winning it all against Kentucky. But that just won’t happen now will it? A team consisted of two possible All Americans, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, lost to a team with not one player who can even be a thought in those who consider the All American team. Then again, it is a form of madness for a reason.

Not only was Kansas a bracket buster, but in comes Ohio, a team who wasn’t even the number one seed in their respective conference and only got into the tournament because they won the MAC conference tournament. They played a highly touted Georgetown team with former number one overall recruit Greg Munroe, a 6′ 10″ PF who dominated the paint, scoring and rebound wise. Who cares about top recruits? Apparently, Ohio does not. What Ohio had was a lot of determination and heart and as a result, Ohio beats Georgetown in the first round, 97-83. It wasn’t even a close game! BRACKET BUSTER! According to CBSSports.com, 98.5 % of their users predicted that Georgetown would win. 1.5% of CBSSports.com users apparently knew what was really going to happen. Thankfully, I was part of the 98.5%. Beautiful.Yet again, it is a form of madness for a reason.

And the misery just doesn’t like one or two teams. Oh no it doesn’t. In my case, seems as though misery came in with about ten teams. Villanova, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, and Marquette are just a four of the ten teams not present in the real day tournament but seem to be playing in my bracket. And I will mention again, BRACKET BUSTER! Villanova and Marquette hurt most since they were going to make it to the elite eight. Other teams like Notre Dame and Temple I should have seen happening. The one that hurt most was Kansas, as stated earlier. They were to be my champions. Oh delightful.

And now the tournament is clearing up. 16 teams are now separating themselves from the pack. We’ve got the ‘who are they?’ in Cornell, Northern Iowa, and St. Mary’s. We’ve got the favorites in Duke, Kentucky, and Syracuse. All of these teams are looking towards the title of ‘Best Men’s College Basketball Team’ to bring home to their respective schools. Each team has been practicing day in and day out for a shot at the title, beating conference foes and non-conference powerhouses. They’ve been looking over tapes of each game and figuring out what could they strategically do in order to beat them. It is quite the journey and quite the stressful path.

Then again, there is a reason why this tournament is so enticing and mind blowing. There is a reason why Cinderella stories are used on a frequent metaphorical basis. Its the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, or as most of us sports fans refer it to, March Madness.

Ah, yes, with the revealing of the bracket yesterday – the most exciting (titillating?) unveiling this side of Janet Jackson – March Madness is now officially in session.

For Badgers’ fans, this meant Googling Wofford to figure out where the heck it is, and then debating whether or not Bo’s crew has what it takes to topple the mighty Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16 (on a side note, Wisconsin easily knocks out the young ‘Cats in the dance-off bracket as John Wall’s “so-easy-your-grandma-can-do-it” wrist jig pales in comparison to Bo’s Soulja Boy rendition).

But, my advice to all you bracket-filling Badger fans out there: slow your roll.

Lest we forget the painful one-point loss to Lefty Driesell’s 11-seeded Georgia State Panthers the year after the 2000 Final Four run, or the scare 15-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi put in the Badgers three years ago, anyone and everyone is susceptible in the opening-round if they lack focus. There’s no exception this year, so don’t overlook the Wofford Terriers.

Winners of their last 13, and 18 of their last 19, the Terriers (26-8, 15-3) enter the tournament as one of the nation’s hotter teams. Moreover, the team has demonstrated it can hang with, and beat, BCS foes with wins over Georgia and South Carolina, and competitive losses to Pittsburgh (a three-seed), Michigan State (a five) and Illinois (the number one overall seed in the NIT).

And in case their resume isn’t enough to at least grab your attention, my search for Wofford let me know the school is located in Spartanburg, S.C., which happens to be a mere six-hour drive for rabid Terrier fans.

As for the specific match-up, the Southern Conference champ owes Bucky. In their only previous meeting, in December 2007, the cardinal-and-white took out their frustration on Wofford, 70-43, following a 24-point drubbing at the hands of Duke in Cameron Indoor.

Interestingly, although the two have only met head-to-head once, there are some personal ties between the two programs. For one, the older brother of 6-foot-6 junior forward Noah Dahlman, Wofford’s leading-scorer at a clip of 16.8 a game, is Isaiah Dahlman, a little-used reserve for Tom Izzo’s Michigan State squad, a Big Ten rival of Wisconsin.

In addition, the Terriers’ Dahlman, who hails from Braham, Minn., as well as teammates Jamar Diggs, a 6-foot-2 guard, and Cameron Rundles, a 6-foot-1 guard (both originally from Minneapolis), played AAU ball alongside current Badger guard Jordan Taylor, from Bloomington, Minn.

However, while to fans those scouting links are fun to think about, ultimately this will be a game of execution. Wofford plays a relatively simple style, not unlike Wisconsin (the Terriers average 69.4 a game and surrender 61.2, compared to 67.5 and 56.2 for the Badgers), sticking to fundamentals on offense and solid man-to-man on “D.” Unless Wisconsin repeats its Big Ten tournament quarterfinal shooting performance, the Badgers superior talent and execution should carry the day.

Spinning it forward, the Badgers would then face either No. 5 Temple or No. 12 Cornell, both potentially formidable opponents. Temple is led by forward Lavoy Allen, who averages a double-double (11.7 points and 10.9 rebounds), one of three players in double figures for the Owls. As it was with John Chaney, though, the team’s calling card is defense – only now it is Fran Dunphy’s staunch man-to-man attack instead of Chaney’s famed matchup-zone.

If you need to be convinced of Temple’s legitimacy, the 29-5 Atlantic 10 champs’ resume features wins over Villanova (a two-seed), Xavier (a six), Richmond (a seven), and Siena (a thirteen).

Cornell, on the other hand, beat just Vermont out of the 64 other tournament participants, but burst onto the scene by pushing the nation’s No. 1 Kansas to the brink in early January. And consider that, besides the loss to Kansas, the Big Red were downed only by Penn, Seton Hall and Syracuse.

The most important thing to note about the Ivy League’s best is their experience: the team features eight seniors on its roster, with 7-foot center, Jeff Foote, and leading scorer Ryan Wittman (17.5 a game), among them.

So the point is, whichever way that one goes, the Badgers will have their hands full. Yet, I personally will be advancing UW past just the Sweet 16. Though I’m sure charges of homerism abound at a pick like this, I believe it.

Call me crazy, but Wisconsin is an ideal fit to upset the youthful Wildcats. Sure their talent dwarfs Wisconsin’s, and granted, despite their inexperience, they lost only two games all season. But the Badgers should be able to slow the tempo, and force Big Blue to beat them from the outside – which we know is Kentucky’s glaring Achilles’ heel.

There’s no question DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Daniel Orton and Co., could cause major problems on the interior, but the Badgers managed just fine against JaJuan Johnson and a healthy Robbie Hummel. Plus, there’s no lack of bodies on the UW bench to give post minutes (in addition to Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil, Mike Bruesewitz and Jared Berggren can help the team match-up).

And once we’re in crunch time, it comes down to coaching and playmakers, and I’m taking experience to flash in this one.

I know, it’s a bold move, but look no further for a blueprint than the team’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge win over Duke…and the Blue Devils can actually shoot.

Basically, if there’s anything I like in the tournament, it’s experienced guards to protect the ball and make big shots. As I see it, the Badgers have them, the Wildcats don’t.

Unfortunately, we won’t know anything until the games are underway with the Badgers tip against Wofford scheduled for 1:50 p.m. central time. Until then, let the speculation rage.

—Starkville, Miss. (THE HUMP)—
As expected, Mississippi State finds some redemption in returning home to the Hump, winning back to back games over Ole Miss (71-63) and Auburn (85-75 OT).

At unexpected, the Bulldogs have only lost one game at home all year, and that was months ago. The Dawgs are now 11-1 and face one GARGANTUAN test come Tuesday: no. 2 Kentucky.

Yes, that Kentucky; the dreaded Kentucky. Those Wildcats we all love to hate for various reasons and now they’re 24-1 after a 73-62 beating of no. 12 Tennessee.

But first things, first. The Dawgs took care of business last Thursday night on rival Rebels. Fans filled the house as Ravern Johnson (18 points, 4-7 3P) finally showed that sweet long ball shot he’s been hiding on the road. The Dawgs again brought together a solid performance but, unlike on the road, they finished the game. And, of course, I must mention: MSU has beaten Ole Miss in football and swept them in basketball. Who’s ready for baseball? (Check back later.)

Saturday night, the Dawgs started slow, preferring to play to Auburn’s talent level. The Tigers consented and shot the ball very well in the first half (40%). But the Dawgs turned it on the second half, slowly taking the lead. And then, to scare all the home crowd, sophomore Dee Bost allows Tay Waller right past him for an easy layup to go into OT. Don’t get me wrong, Bost was a flat-out stud the entire game. His three ball was strokin’ to the tune of a career-high 32 points (11-19 FG, 7-12 3P). But he needs to step on and make that defensive stop with full effort. This is cognizant of the entire team, minus seniors Barry Stewart and Jarvis Varnado.

But on to Tuesday night. ESPN will be in town for the matchup, but please no Dickie V, I beg you. But, seriously, MissState will have its biggest game all season going against freshman phenoms John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins of Kentucky. Wall will quite a handful. Right now, I see Coach Rick Stansbury putting Bost on him and monitoring him and saving Stewart if need be. The biggest question will be the matchup on Cousins. Kodi Augustus will have a tough time. It doesn’t help that the Dawgs have played two games in four days with one OT.

Positives: Ravern Johnson regaining some 3-point touch…Jarvis Varnado now just 18 blocks away from record…Romero Osbystarting to step up and deliver good minutes and finishing his baskets strong…Dee Bost notched 32 points vs. Auburn.

Negatives: Kodi Augustus and Phil Turner opting to shoot the long, long ball only when a defender is right in their face… NCAA for being douche bags and still not allowing Renardo Sidney to play…Riley Benock still afraid to shoot the ball Read the full story

The first few weeks of the college basketball season have come and gone and a lot has been learned from watching these games. Check it out:

1.) The University of North Carolina (12-7) isn’t worthy of even being mentioned for the national championship. You would imagine that a team would want to defend their national championship, right? Not in UNC’s case. Losing their last three games, and four of their last five, The Tar heels have done one thing well all season: turn the ball over (a lot).

2.) Games have been much closer than they should be. St. Johns (12-7) last night had a lead going into half-time against Villanova (18-1). Nova rightfully thwarted St. John’s in the second half, but why was it even this close to begin with? Number-five Syracuse (19-1) squeezed out a tight one with a Marquette (11-8) team who has looked less than stellar all year. This next one is probably my favorite. Michigan State (17-3) beats Minnesota (12-7) by a free-throw. Yes, giving credit where credit is due, State was losing by eight at half-time and managed to rally back. Although these close games make for great television, it makes me wonder if true dominance has left the game.

3.) Being King-of-the-Hill is hard. Ten weeks into the season, we’ve had two different number-one ranked teams and it’ll be three on Monday morning. Kansas (18-1) road the momentum longest spending a solid eight weeks on top, but their loss to Tennessee (15-3) sent them down two spots and out the target on Texas’ (17-2) back. They didn’t fair as well as Kansas losing their number-one ranking after just two weeks. A few hours from now Kentucky (19-0), the sole undefeated team, will get their first shot at sitting on the throne.

4.) The ACC as a whole hasn’t been up to its normal excellence. Last week I wrote an article about each team from the ACC and within that week, the situation has become more interesting. If I told you that Maryland (13-5) was on top of the ACC and that UNC was second from the bottom, I wouldn’t believe me either. Maybe it’s more mind blowing that the Cavaliers of Virginia (12-5) have beaten a Georgia Tech (14-4) team that has steamrolled the likes of Duke (16-3) and Clemson (15-5) this season. What was thought to be a typical UNC-Duke year has become more atypical then years passed.

5.) The most important thing we’ve learned from this season: There’s a reason we play the game.

Despite everything that we have learned from this season, questions are still being raised. Will UNC get back to contending form? Will the top-25 ever look relatively similar again two weeks in a row? But what I’m still trying to figure out is the following:

Why hasn’t Kentucky been the number one seed yet?

I’ll start by defending the rankings. There was multiple undefeated teams like Texas, Kansas, Syracuse and Villanova. There was also many strong one loss teams like Michigan State, Tennessee and Duke. Also, maybe playing in the SEC isn’t the best conference to play for, but when a team has a “W19″ in their current streak column, it means something.

Now I’ll talk about why the Cats should have been placed on top since the season’s beginning. Kentucky has the best player in the nation in John Wall taking the ball up court. What makes this team special is that Wall also averages 6.7 assists per game. Forward DeMarcus Cousins averages a smooth 15.4 ppg and 9.5 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson make it four Wildcats with an average of 10 points or more. The Wildcats make it almost impossible to stop them averaging 83.2 ppg. More impressive is the mere 65.6 points against per game. That has to be intimidating walking into Rupp Arena knowing that in 19 games, the Wildcats have won by a 17.6 points average. However, all the great game planning requires great coaching.

John Calipari is truly defining himself as the best active coach in college basketball. He has a 416-137 overall record and after all the doubt about not being able to coach outside Conference USA, he’s just led the Wildcats to the number one spot overall in 2010. Yes, his NBA stint with the New Jersey Nets was as bad as dropping a full carton of eggs, but this guy knows how to motivate young players. Derreck Rose, Tyreke Evans and now John Wall are three “one-and-done” players to have been coached by Calipari and unlikely than any other situation, they play with pride for the one season. The one thing that I love about Calipari is that his team never plays to the level of their opponent. When they’re supposed to win big, they beat Hartford (5-15) by 43. When faced with SEC rival Arkansas (8-1), Kentucky made it look like a close game winning by 31.

It’s those big games that define a team as the number-one overall. They won 64-61 over a hot UCONN (13-6) team and going into The Swamp to play the Florida Gators (14-5) and going home a 12 point winner is rather defining. This team can flat out play. If you’re still not convinced that the Kentucky Wildcats should be number one, you should probably re-evaluate the way you watch the game.

If I were asked, I’d say their best chance to lose the rest of the season is February 27th when they travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Who knows, maybe a week earlier on February 20th, the Vanderbilt Commodores (15-3) can surprise the Cats in Nashville. But like I just said:

It’s only a chance.

Kentucky is the last remaining undefeated team in college basketball. They have arguably the two best freshmen in John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins (though Kansas and Texas fans can make a case for Xavier Henry and Avery Bradley). And they probably have the most talent in the nation. But I still believe they will make an early exit when the tournament rolls around.

It is incredibly rare that one or two freshmen can take a team to a title. Carmelo Anthony managed to do it with Syracuse, but he also had a great supporting cast of experienced upperclassmen. Derrick Rose came close with Memphis, but he, too had great players around him with tournament experience.

This Kentucky team is slightly different. Of their eight players who have seen the most minutes, none are seniors, and Patrick Patterson is the only junior. The rest are sophomores and freshmen, and none of those underclassmen have ever played an NCAA tournament game. With Wall, Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe seeing a ton of minutes, the trio of freshmen have led the Wildcats to what is sure to be the top spot in the rankings next week. But without any senior leadership, this team could definitely crumble as the season nears a close.

It would not surprise me to see Kentucky waltz into the tournament undefeated and riding high. And they will probably beat down on some lowly 16-seed. But then there will be an 8 or 9 seed with nothing to lose and experienced players who have been through the rigors of tournament play.

Imagine a team like Florida State or Butler matching up with Kentucky in the second round. A team like Butler is fundamentally sound and could match up well with Kentucky. Florida State would undoubtedly give them fits, as well, since Solomon Alabi patrols the paint with his 3 blocks per game. But those are just examples. A team like the aforementioned ones will almost surely be pitted against the Wildcats in round two, and the great trio of freshmen will have their hands full for 40 minutes.

Kentucky’s great undefeated season may come to an abrupt close, sending all three freshmen off to the NBA on a sour note.

There’s snow on the ground, Christmas trees in houses, and most importatntly its COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON! This is the time that teams are in the trenches, all of the off-season work comes into play. Who hit the gym, who took time off, and who will make it to March?
Kansas and Kentucky are looking strong this year, with dynamic backcourts and relentless pressure these two are my forerunners right now. Wall, from Kentucky, has dominated his opponnets and he has stepped up to lead his team, and Kentucky, off to a strong start. Kansas is posting big numbers, behind Senior guard Sherron Collins. They have dominated the bulk of their schedule and are on pace to hold their number one seed.

It is the most wonderful time of the year, and it’s gonna be a great one!