VCU's Success Shines Light on Towson University's Failures

Shame on Towson University!!!

The Final Four in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament awaits us. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) from the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAC) beat Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas, all major conference teams, some considered national powerhouses to get there. George Mason, whose run to the Final Four elevated the CAC and mid-major conferences to a new, high degree of prestige won their first round challenge then were eliminated by #1 seed, Ohio State. Old Dominion also made the field as a #9 seed losing to Butler, a Final Four team, a #8 seed.

The implication is clear; the Colonial Athletic Conference is poised to be a major competitor in NCAA Men’s Basketball, but not for Towson University, Maryland’s second largest state university close to the same size as George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth. In the new millennium, Towson athletics is a study in failure aside from lacrosse where they’re hardly knocking down any walls. While fielding a competitive football program is a huge investment mindful that this conference contributed Joe Flacco from University of Delaware, quality basketball should be within Towson’s reach. How many other states’ second largest schools or schools with much smaller enrollments thrive in NCAA basketball?

The Towson Tigers did not win a single conference game this past season. Their record was 4-26 overall trailing William and Mary 4-14, 10-22 overall showing Towson pitifully buried in the cellar.

Team Record
2009-2010 8th, 6-12, 10-21 overall
2008-2009 10th, 5-13, 12-22 overall
2007-2008 9th, 7-11, 13-18 overall

Coach Pat Kennedy quit at season’s end after having been sought to be a leader who could advance the team to greater heights when hired for the 2004 season. Kennedy’s biggest contribution was stewarding Florida State into the ACC, coaching there from 1986-1997 with a total 202-131 record, much of it in the highly competitive ACC. Since then, his success hard to find, struggling at DePaul, a solid Big East team from 1997-2002, 67-85, and then Montana, a weak program, 2002-2004, 23-35 record.

The women’s program is not much better for this past season, a 3-14 conference record and 9-21 overall result.

A snapshot of their football program shows a team with only one win, not in conference for the 2010 season. What can be said of one program can be said of the other. Even in lacrosse which had once been a Towson stronghold, they’re buried far from tournament shape, with a 7-8 record.

Towson University is capable of being a competitive team in basketball and one of the nation’s top programs in lacrosse. Looking at the mother ship, University of Maryland, College Park whose football and basketball programs have struggled in recent years, certainly both schools’ struggles surely points to commitment at the highest level of the state university system. Since Maryland’s winning the National Championship in basketball, 2002, they’d reach the Sweet 16 the following year having never advanced past the tournament’s second round since. Of those nine seasons, Maryland made five NCCA appearances, three NIT appearances with little distinction. Their high points were winning the ACC tournament in 2004 and being the regular season champ in 2010. The 2010-2011 season marks a horrible embarrassment for the program not even achieving an NIT invitation after a late season total collapse.

In football, the Ralph Friedgen era began with great hopes for the 2001 season leaping out of the long run of mediocrity winning the ACC championship to reach the Orange Bowl. The following year, 2002, Maryland smashed Tennessee in the Peach Bowl. Since then, Maryland has made its share of lesser bowls but certainly has fallen below expectations.

In the Maryland system, College Park rules and the rest of the campuses are at each other’s throats for what remains. This is especially true in Division One athletics. The Baltimore area has five universities, four which participate in basketball, football far more limited. Towson, Morgan State, Coppin State, and UMBC are all Division One for basketball. Only Towson and Morgan field football teams, but UMBC boasts a dynasty in chess!

Additionally, these schools compete with Loyola Baltimore, a strong MEAC team coached by popular former Gary Williams’ assistant, Jimmy Patsos. The Washington DC area adds Georgetown, American University, George Mason, and George Washington University all competing for local talent with Philadelphia only 100 miles up I-95 to the northeast.

The Baltimore-Washington area is fertile ground for top basketball prospects scouted by top schools nationwide. With significant competition for talent, building a first rate program represents tremendous dedication, but the Baltimore-Washington area is not unique and certainly a state’s second largest university deserves far more commitment than state leadership affords a superb university whose story would be much better known nationwide if it had an athletics program that made headlines.

Today, the reputation of Maryland sports is poor. College Park dumped Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams’ is dealing with his greatest disgrace during his distinguished tenure at College Park. While #1 gets the bulk of the attention, #2 is a cruel joke that shows nothing to be proud of in basketball and football. They’re an embarrassment, but since Towson seldom has gotten much attention for long standing mediocrity, few notice. Still, they were worthy of a limited radio schedule for the 2009-2010 schedule on Baltimore’s flamethrower AM radio station, WBAL.

Located in the affluent Towson/Northern Baltimore County area, Towson could be a fabulous cite for top sports. Plans move forward for a new arena, a must to be on the same level as George Mason and other CAC schools. We anxiously wait to see who is named the next coach and if they find a proven motivator who can build a program from nothing.

No doubt, many will say how can schools afford to upgrade athletic programs when funds are scarce; the economy is bad, and all the usual excuses. Good sports programs, particularly basketball can bring economic benefits to their schools. That a school is seen as a top athletic school where kids would want to wear school jerseys and colors not only helps the school enjoy some marketing funds but also stirs up a buzz that could attract more students to chose a school like Towson over other universities. Sports are one element of creating a stimulating quality college life.

Our message, while we want to see University of Maryland be a school mentioned in the same breath as University of North Carolina and Duke in basketball as they were at the turn of the century and their football team should be challenging for the ACC football title consistently, Towson University must become one of the jewels of the Colonial Athletic Conference. This is within Towson’s reach. Maryland has only one school in the conference while Virginia has five. Okay Virginia’s a larger state than Maryland but supporting Old Dominion, William & Mary, VCU, James Madison, and George Mason is a far more substantial commitment than what Maryland’s devoting to its schools.

Larger problems loom than simply the state’s academic operations that hurt athletics. Certainly, it’s hard to justify FIVE universities in the Baltimore area: Towson, Morgan State, Coppin State, University of Baltimore, and UMBC. Certainly, Towson and UMBC are thriving schools. Morgan deserves its standing as one of the nation’s top black universities, but certainly it would make sense to fold Coppin State within its structure as it would University of Baltimore into either Towson or University of Maryland. On the Eastern Shore Salisbury and University of Maryland, Eastern Shore are just 12 miles apart. Consolidating such resources makes sense. Greater focus could mean better athletic programs where schools like Salisbury and Frostburg could tear up their conferences. While St. Mary’s simply has never shown any interest in athletics and that’s fine, who knows what kind of sleeper Bowie State could be in Washington DC’s eastern suburbs.

It starts at the top. Bold thinking is required. Get University of Maryland where ESPN can’t avoid talking about them. Get Towson to where they’ll be there soon. Who knows what the rest of the system could produce if a spirit of winning sweeps the system?

Right now, it appears that try not to loose would be a step forward rather than the indifference the seems to emulate from Annapolis to the highest ranks of the University System, but the time it reaches the Athletic director’s level and coaching staffs, the damage is done.

Go Tigers!!!!




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New NCAA March Madness Contract: SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

The NCAA announced a new television arrangement and a minor expansion of the men’s basketball tournament beginning next season.

Thankfully, talk of massive expansion was shot down. There was talk of an 80 or possibly 96 team field. Instead, the number will be reduced to 68, with play in games for all four brackets rather than just one. Okay, three borderline teams that folks would argue should have made the field will now get in, but whether the field is 48 or 96, which ever teams are the first ones who don’t make the cut will be coming up with arguments why they should have been there. This move to expand to 68 really doesn’t mess up anything other than slightly diluting the NIT field which no one cares about anyway.

The television contract brings good news and perhaps for others some bad news. Every single game will be televised in its entirety. Fans will no longer suffer with all the cut-ins, watching a game they really care about to see Moose Fart State trying to pull the upset over some conference powerhouse half way across the country. The new contract splits the games between CBS and Turner broadcasting that will throw three of its cable networks into the mix, two of which are widely distributed, the third is not one of the longstanding cable staples. The odd man out, of course, is ESPN who broadcasts the lion’s share of nationally televised regular season games on its combination of networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN-U. Since some of the ESPN crew including Jay Bilas also work for CBS during the tournament, will those announcers and analysts be free to work for the Turner networks in the tournament as often talent with cable contracts are released to work for over-the-air networks but not cable rivals.

Starting next season, all games will be covered on CBS and Turner stations TBS, TNT, and TruTV. Everything in the first two rounds will be split evenly between the four networks. CBS will retain coverage of the regional finals and the final four through 2015. In 2016, regional coverage will be split between CBS and Turner, and the final four will alternate between CBS and TBS. Live steaming will continue to be available for all games. This means those not serviced with cable or a dish service will not be able to watch the final four and a substantial number of games on over-the-air television as this deal takes effect becoming especially difficult once the networks alternate the final four making the final four the most prestigious sports championship not shown on regular television.

The NCAA is the huge winner from a money standpoint as the broadcast rights for the men’s basketball tournament provides the organization with 95% of its incoming revenue, an astonishing huge amount considering football bowls, and the hundreds of regular season games broadcast around the nation. The participating conferences should net an average of $740 million each year, millions for each school according to NCAA President, Jim Isch. The total price tag for this deal, $10.8 billion a figure well in excess of many a state’s budget.

Clearly, the big winner in this deal is the NCAA. Turner wins if they can attract adequate advertising revenue. CBS retains a major piece of one of its most coveted sports portfolio items, but we can only call their stake at best a draw. The big losers are ESPN, who will have even a lesser roll in keeping their coverage of the tournament vital. How much analysis can they supply when highlights released for other networks to air will be carefully allocated by CBS and Turner? What counter programming is available in this time frame, pre-season baseball? The other big losers would be fans who do not have cable or satellite service. They will have less to watch especially when the final four alternates between networks after 2015.

The fans also win big that the field is only being expanded to 68 not 96 games. It’s not just for the sake of the unwieldy bracket sheets that would result, but the way the current tournament plays out over three consecutive weekends provides a great sense of balance and drama without a diluted pool that could make some of the early round match-ups lethal.

We challenge Turner and CBS to continue to work to improve coverage covering the game as completely and accurately as possible resisting the temptation to go gimmick and gizmo crazy.

2010 March Madness: Hoop-de-Doo and Keep an Eye on Miss Betty

March Madness has arrived! The NCAA College Basketball Championship series is one of the most unique and enjoyable events on the sports calendars for it truly is an all-American event from the Pacific Northwest to Florida to New England to Southern California and all the heartland in between, the great colleges and universities and some no one’s ever heard of are playing for the national championship. Three weeks sixty five teams will be reduced to one, the national championship.

Management at work looks the other way and who cares if gambling is a no-no, but everyone from the suits in the corner office to the kid in the mailroom have their brackets filled out, and isn’t it funny how the office sports prognosticators seldom win? Last year it was Betty with the big thick glasses in accounting. The year before that, it was that cute little honey who works for the head of payroll. The year before that, it was that kid from Korea working in I.T. This year, everyone started today dreaming of winning the big price, but the upsets are already underway.

Your humble writer here plays three sheets each year – the well researched, the “play the hunch,” and the wishful thinking. As such, we have Kansas, Duke, and Maryland atop of three separate brackets. How strange it feels not to have picked the North Carolina Tar Heels on any sheet. Last year’s champs are this year’s chumps playing for honor in the lowly NIT tournament. Talk about turnarounds, their participation in the NIT doesn’t even rate the Dean Dome. It’s closed for renovations so the old Carmichael Auditorium once again hosts the men’s team.

Aside from the University of Maryland’s #4 bid, the region is represented by Morgan State representing the MEAC conference. The Georgetown Hoyas look strong as a #3 seed for the Big East. Richmond represents the Atlantic 10 as a #7. Not to far from Crab Town, two Big East teams, West Virginia and Villanova enjoy #2 seeds. Yet, the biggest story of the tournament so far comes from down at the other end of the Chesapeake Bay. Old Dominion, a #11 slot, representing the Colonial Conference the same conference as Towson University, upset Notre Dame. It took overtime for Villanova to claim its victory over the lowly Robert Morris.

True to form, within the first four games, great stories have emerged and the once mighty Florida Gators are already finished. Thirty two games in two days and even Betty in accounting and the Korean Kid are keeping track.

NCAA College Hoops: FEAR THE TURTLE!!!

It's certain, the University of Maryland Terrapins will finish in second place in the ACC. Their record is 10-3 in the ACC, 2o-7 overall. They could even tie Duke for number one. We'll assume North Carolina won't beat Duke at Cameron Crazy land.

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Why haven't the Terps achieved National ranking yet?

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After their dramatic double overtime win against Virginia Tech, a team in the fight for 3rd place or at least a first round bye in the ACC tournement, when this week's national rankings, the Terps darned well better be somewhere in the teens in the top 25. Enough already!

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It has long been said that Testudo, the bronze statue of the Maryland Terrapin, would sprout wings and fly off campus if a virgin ever graduated from Maryland, but come Monday morning, if the Terps aren't ranked, perhaps the legendary turtle should take flight and exact a little revenge for the mighty Terps being slighted!

Congratulations UNC Tar Heels

What happened to the Big East? Wasn't this supposed to be their conference? The ACC, Big Ten, and Big East all had seven teams in the Big Show, but only the Big East had three number one seeds. Didn't the ACC fall flat on its face with four of its seven teams failing to get past the first round. Maryland would get dumped in the secound round leaving the mighty North Carolina and Duke alive, but Duke made it to the Sweet 16 but was promptly sent home. The Big Ten lost three teams in the first round and two more in the second round. While Purdue fell in the Sweet 16, only Michigan State surived.

The Big East looked mighty mighty. Only West Virginia fell in the first round and Marquette dropped out in the second round. How mighty could a conference be with five teams going to the Sweet Sixteen, with only Syracuse dying at slot 16. Four teams were in the round of eight, but Louisville and Pittsburgh would go home. Regardless, the Big East had half the final four with Connecticut and Villanova. Wouldn't a Big East shootout for the championship be in order?

North Carolina and Michigan State had something to say about that with the Tar Heels convincingly beating Villanova while Michigan State made a mess of Connecticut. And then only left standing was an ACC team and a Big Ten team. (By the way Terps fans will tell you Maryland beat them both.)

What an emotional triumph for the state of Michigan. The final four played in Ford's Field in Detroit, the city most victimized by the economic crisis and high unemployment. How sweet it was for the automotive state to have a team from Lansing, the city once known for Oldsmobile, 94 miles up I-96 north west of the Motor City. Wouldn't a Spartan victory help bring joy to the state with not only an economic crisis but the Detroit Lions too?

Roy Williams and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels had a different idea. Having been predicted by most to win it all last year only to bow out against Kansas one year ago, the Heels were not to be denied in 2009. Led by senior center, Tyler Hansbrough and junior guard, Ty Lawson with Danny Green and Wayne Ellington in tow, nothing short of a convincing win for the championship would do for North Carolina. Taking the lead immediately and leading by as many as 24 points, Roy Williams' fighting men secured one of the most dominant victories in tournament history outscoring the Spartans 89-72.

The 2009 championship was a hard fought and well deserved victory for the hoopsters of Chapel Hill. They'll be a very different team next year. The question for Roy Williams is will the 2009-2010 Tar Heels be reloading or rebuilding? The rest of the ACC field will be waiting.

NCAA Hoops 2009: And Then There Were Four....The Road to Detroit

Okay, so who still has a chance to win their NCAA Tournament brackets pool?

Chances are good that somebody picked Connecticut against North Carolina, and surely some Midwesterners and Big East fans might have Michigan State against North Carolina, but how many folks saw the Villanova freight train coming?

If one team has been the surprise dominant team it’s those boys from the great cheese steak capital of the world, Philadelphia, as the Villanova Wildcats have made chopped onions of their opponents and sprayed them with Cheese Whiz for good measure.

Connecticut has pretty much played up to their best expectations. Sure lots of folks picked Memphis, a very strong #2 in this bracket for all the glory, but Memphis looked pretty dull fighting #3 Missouri who had little fight left in them facing Connecticut.

Michigan State gives folks around the Motor City some much needed cheer. In the sports world, the misery of how god-awful their NFL Lions performed suffering a miserable winless series makes the Detroit Tigers incredible playoff run in 2006 but then total collapse against the St. Louis Cardinals seem like ancient history while the region suffers with the plight of the auto industry fearing what will become of General Motors and Chrysler. The Midwest regional was supposed to be Rick Pitino’s big party. While much talk focused on lower seeds, Wake Forest and last year’s champ, Kansas, but the Demon Deacons lost in one of the tournament’s most stunning upsets in recent history falling to lowly Cleveland State while Michigan State clearly outpaced Kansas. The Spartans might be the first team from the Wolverine State to celebrate in Ford’s Field whose grand spectacle was the 2005 Super Bowl featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and Rolling Stones as the big shots of the day.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, weren’t they, not Villanova supposed to be heading for the Final Four?

That leaves us with the North Carolina Tar Heels who are exactly where they’re supposed to be as the team most would have predicted to win it all when the 2008-2009 season began, and while proving to be a little less than invincible, the Tar Heels have played a magnificent season with only their failure to win the ACC tournament in the quarterfinal to Florida State largely due to star guard, Ty Lawson sitting out with a sore toe. Once Lawson returned in the second round of the big show, Carolina has looked dominant laying to waist LSU, Gonzaga, and Oklahoma en route to the Motor City madness.

While we mourn the ruin of our three bracket sheets, two of them picking Carolina to win it all but up against two vanquished potential foes, Memphis and Louisville, it would be hard to call any of the four teams still standing winning the tournament an upset. We’ll stick with Carolina realizing Villanova has pushed all the right buttons with such precision that will be a very tough fight. On the other side of the bracket, we’ll go with Michigan State knowing Connecticut is probably the better team. We just can’t stand cheering for a New England or Big Apple area team and we feel compassion for the folks in Michigan who haven’t had much to celebrate recently, but our mid-Atlantic sensibility makes the Tar Heels our pick to hoist the banner when the tournament champ is crowned Monday night.

March Madness: It's on to the Regionals

March Hare contemplates his bracket picks.


What a start the 2009 NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament is off on!!! For those looking for a real Cinderella story, this is definitely not the year. The only team that could qualify is Arizona, a #12 seed, who will face top seed, Louisville in the Midwest regional in Indianapolis. Arizona beat #5 Utah to face Cleveland State, perhaps the ultimate bracket buster, who defeated #4 seed, Wake Forest, a team many of the expert chatter brigade saw as a team that could upset Louisville and steal the bracket.

This has been a miserable tournament for the ACC. Not only was #4 Wake Forest eliminated from the Midwest bracket, so was #7 Boston College. In the East, #10 Maryland advanced one round to be slaughtered by #2 Memphis, the team many felt were slighted out of a #1 seed. Out west, ACC tournament finalist, #5 Florida State fell to #12 Wisconsin. While in the South, though playing in territory much closer to their rival's home Michigan in Dayton, Ohio, Clemson was no match for the Michigan Wolverines. That leaves Duke alive as a #2 to face the #3 Big East rival, Villanova while North Carolina looked energized with Ty Lawson return dominating play in the 2nd half of their win over LSU will face #Gonzaga in the South.

Looking at the field of sixteen, it will be up to the remaining competitors to prove this is not the Big East's year. Never before has one conference had five teams make it to the regional rounds of competion. Louisville is ready to move on to the round of eight playing the lowest seed still alive, Arizona in the Midwest. Out west, Connecticut soldiers on against #5 Perdue. Pittsburgh faces #4 Xavier while Villanova challenges Duke. Down south, the Big East sends #3, one of this year's most pesky teams against #2 Oklahoma. it would be hard not to pick the Big East choices to advance to the field of eight with Villanova's fight against Duke being the most formidable challenge. #2 Memphis faces #3 Missouri (cut the Mizzou crap) completing the picture in the West. Memphis would appear to be the stronger team in this showdown. The final match puts last year's champ, #3 Kansas with few remaining soldiers faces #2 Michigan State in a contest we'd pick Michigan State but honestly have to call a toss up.

In what must be driving bracketology students crazy, those who made their picks going with the favorites based on seedings right now are only down two with Arizona advancing and Perdue, a #5 considered by many an easy pick to beat the #4 Washington, holding on to make the field.

In a year with so few conspicuous upsets so far outside of that sinking feeling for ACC fans not wedded to arch rivals North Carolina and Duke, the real story is the quality of play, how many games played down to the final seconds with lead changes swapping back and forth through out the action. For all the upheavel in the final games of the regular season and the conference championships, the tournament has settled down to just good, highly competitive play.

Much could change in the next series of action at the four regional outposts, but for number fours to beat number ones is not that unusual a feat and surely no one would ever be shocked to see a two lose to a three. only two games don't feature such matchups as play begins Thursday afternoon.

March Madness: Day One

How are your brackets doing? So far, I’m running at 14, 12, and 9, but my one with just nine wins pits North Carolina to beat Louisville in the final. My 14 is a whacko ACC dream bracket in which Duke beats Wake Forest! I was delighted to see Maryland and Michigan win, but surely thought Tubby Smith would have coached Minnesota to a first round win. Western Kentucky defeating Illinois with a fellow named Jordan playing for Illinois had to be the upset of the day. Maybe “Blago” sold them out. The most outrageous TV moment had to be in the Oklahoma/Morgan State game. 6’4” Ameer Ali was not pleased with how Oklahoma Sooner, Blake Griffin, a nationally known superstar standing at 6’10’ was showing his game. During a moment of intimate contact on the hardwood, Ali locked his arm over Griffin’s and tossed him over top of his body to land squarely on the floor. While that move might have won an award in professional wrestling, Ameere Ali was promptly dispatched to the locker room to contemplate what could have been.

Something tells me that by the time we get around to “One Shining Moment” which I would be just as happy to hear replaced with “Louie Louie”, college hoop fans worldwide will be very sick of Clark Kellogg. This dude is not first team material. Jim Nantz, as always, is the cool professional. Any regional analyst on Raycom, the network that provides ACC coverage is much more articulate and enthusiastic than the excessively humorless style of Mr. Corn Flakes. Though Billy Packer was much like that old uncle you’d wish would pipe down a little when the family’s together watching the big game on television, he sure kept things lively even when he’d let loose one of his brilliant observations that turned out to be a classic moaner to all the guys watching the game. For the role of color analyst, he was colorful where Kellogg is – well, a corn flake.

March Madness on Selection Sunday: Can You Say "Mass Insanity?!?!"

Promise: There will be Motor City Madmen when this thing ends in Detroit and they won't be doing the "Wango Tango."

The Ides of March are upon us, so is “Selection Sunday.” The field will be chosen much to the delight of 65 teams while some teams will be left pondering what could have been. The 2008-2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball season has been one of the most unpredictable, hardly fought tournaments ever. Few spectacles in sports provides the drama and excitement of the tournament where office pools run wild bringing co-workers together who might never know who each other are aside from names on a bracket standings list. How hilarious it is when somebody who just wants to be a good team player wins the kitty while the hardcore sports fans with intricate bracket strategies stand empty handed. The fun begins tomorrow night when the field is announced.

For starters, seven of the top ten teams in the AP poll have lost their final games. Only Louisville and Memphis are winners. Duke has one game left against Florida State for the ACC championship. For good measure, Kansas, last year’s champ in #11, lost their final game in their conference tournament too.

How crazy has this year’s March Madness been so far. Nothing could tell the story more clearly than what happened in Madison Square Garden with #3 Connecticut facing #18 Syracuse in the quarter final. In a marathon fought over six overtime periods, Syracuse pulled out the victory to advance to the Big East final where they’d fall to #5 Louisville. What happens to the Big East candidates given Pittsburgh was #2, Connecticut #3, and #5 Louisville. Only Louisville stands triumphant after their conference brawl was finished in New York. Meanwhile, top 25 ACC teams, #8 Wake Forest and #17 Clemson barely put up a fight in their conflicts. Things were also topsy-turvy in the Big Ten as well where #7 Michigan State fought for the top bracket they failed to advance into the power rounds falling to #24 Purdue who faces Ohio State, not ranked, in the Big Ten final. Penn State, Michigan, and Illinois all fell in earlier rounds. Tournament fans might ask what happened to the once mighty Hoosiers from Indiana, they finished the year in dead last, a program in deep trouble.

How’s life down yonder in Dixie? The SEC tournament would also prove madness prevails. Mississippi State defeated Western Division leader LSU to advance to the final round against Tennessee. Should Mississippi State make the Tournament some better known big shot will go home in tears. Go a little further west, #6 Oklahoma lost to in state rival, Oklahoma State while last year’s NCAA champ Kansas is also gone, while Missouri wins the title. Go all the way out west to the PAC-10, Washington at 14-4, UCLA at 13-5, as well as California and Arizona State at 11-7 couldn’t nail down the title, that honor goes to USC who at 9-9 go home with the west coast banner.

The less prestigious divisions are full of surprises too, some of the highlights include: Binghamton only recently a member of the American East conference won their tournament against UMBC, but the Baltimore region does get to smile for Morgan State winners of the MEAC. Other surprises include: Robert Morris, NEC; Portland State, Big Sky; American, Patriot; Radford, Big South; and last year’s Cinderella, Davidson will be nowhere to be found as Chattanooga wins the Southern even though Davidson went 18-2 during the regular season (26-7, overall including nearby North Carolina rivals), three games better than Charleston who took them out of competition while Chattanooga stood at only 11-9, 18-16 overall.

Nobody said fate was kind.

Where this year’s tournament will stand over all remains to be seen. Memories of Magic Johnson for Michigan State facing Larry Byrd for Indiana in 1979, Michael Jordan shooting a buzzer beater to win 1982’s championship for North Carolina’s victory over Georgetown, or Jimmy Valvano’s underdogs prevailing to win the championship for NC State the following year in 1983 are legendary accomplishments for the ages. There might never be super teams like those of the late 70’s and early 80’s when the tournament had just become a national spectacle with players leaving early in their college career or opting out all together like Koby Bryant or Lebrun James. Super teams like the 1982 Tarheels with Matt Daugherty, Sam Perkins, James Worthy, and Michael Jordan might never be seen again, but with the lack of superstars playing together until their senior year creates a closer field where parity becomes the norm.

They don’t call it March Madness for nothing. Let the games begin.

Terps Basketball: Mixed Message

Are they or aren't they? Will they or won't they?

The 2008-2009 men's basketball season has been a wild ride for the University of Maryland. While they looked brilliant in pre-ACC play, they lost to in-state, lower-division, rival Morgan State. That loss made victories against Michigan State and Michigan look so far away. When the regular season began, after winning against Georgia Tech, much more an omen for the misery the Yellow Jackets would face than the prowess of the Terps, Maryland lost five out of their next seven teams leaving them where an invitation to the consolation tournament, the NIT, looked like a long shot. Soon the Terps looked like a challenger, and after beating the North Carolina Tar Heels on February 21st, Gary Williams boys looked like they could write their own ticket to an NCAA tournament berth despite games upcoming against Duke and Wake Forest. They could lose those, but still look strong enough to make the field. The bottom line would appear to dictate at least a 9-7 record in ACC play. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, they lost those two games but also lost an embarassing game to Virginia to conclude the season. Few would have kept them on the bubble after that defeat.

The ACC Tournament beckoned with a slight chance for salvation. Maryland was up to the challenge disposing of NC State once again and then outlasting top 10, Wake Forest. Maryland made it to the semi-finals to face Duke, but clearly had run out of gas never quite strong enough to challenge Duke for the win.

Maryland stands at 20-13 overall. From a bird's eye view, that would look good enough for the big show, but within those numbers is 7-9 in conference play, but 2-1 in the conference tournament.

All said, Maryland could make it. The field is tough and the bubble is huge. Should Maryland fail to make the cut, Maryland fans cannot feel slighted given just how low Maryland's weakest performances took them. Such poor play can make their transient triumphs look smaller when the big picture is viewed on the whole.

Gary Williams will have much to account for in the offseason. The miserable graduation rate, especially given this isn't in any way due to players leaving for the NBA, and horribly uneven play demands answers. Recruiting better players and working on academics must be priorities.

Gary Williams has done so much for his alma-matter taking them from the era that began with Len Bias's tragic lethal cocaine overdose through the Bob Wade years and NCAA sanctions. Gary's loyalty was beyond doubt as he build a team that was a regular in the NCAA Tournament and finally a National Champion in 2001. Since then, Maryland has fallen off tremendously. New talent and new approaches are required or Gary Williams' era at Maryland could be nearing an end if the 2009-2010 season doesn't show a turnaround.

NCAA Men's Hoops: Approaching March Madness, Somebody's Going to Get Hurt!!!

Somebody’s Going to Get Hurt

With most teams playing their last two games in the major conferences, NCAA basketball is providing one of the most hectic approaches to March Madness ever. The ACC and Big East have lived up to their billing as the money conferences with likely as many as eight teams each over .500 which normally secures a tournament bid for big conference teams. Things have changed, the Mid-Majors are much stronger as Davidson proved almost pulling the upset against Kansas in the great eight. George Mason went deep recently too, and Gonzaga on the west coast has become a tournament regular. That being said, none of these schools could get at large bids.

Here’s the scene in Chesapeake country and close by.

MAJOR CONFERENCES (AP Top 25 Rankings noted.)

ACC
#2 North Carolina 11-3 25-3
#7 Duke 10-4 24-5
# 10 Wake Forest 9-5 22-5
#24 Florida State 9-5 22-7
#18 Clemson 8-6 22-6 (Home: Virginia, Away: Wake Forest)
Boston College 8-6 20-9 (Away: NC State, Home: Georgia Tech)
Maryland 7-7 18-10 (Home: Wake Forest, Away: Virginia)
Virginia Tech 7-7 17-11 (Home: UNC, Away: Florida State)
Miami 6-8 17-10 (Away; Georgia Tech, Home; NC State)

North Carolina through Boston College are all but locked in now. Only a major collapse could spoil Clemson and Boston College. Maryland has the edge over Virginia Tech who’d have to win their last two games and pull some major upsets in the ACC Tournament. Maryland needs their last two games and should survive the first round, at least, to make it in, but the field is tight, and seven teams from the ACC is asking a lot of the field. Miami gets a lot of buzz for their RPI.


Big East
#1 Connecticut 15-2 27-2
#6 Louisville 14-2 23-5
#3 Pittsburgh 13-3 26-3
#13 Marquette 12-4 23-6
#11 Villanova 12-5 24-6
Providence 10-7 18-11 (Away: Villanova)
#25 Syracuse 9-7 21-8 (Home: Rutgers, Away: Marquette)
West Virginia 9-7 20-9 (Home: DePaul, Home: Louisville)
Cincinnati 8-8 18-11 (Away: South Florida, Home: Seton Hall)

Providence is not showing up on any National surveys because of their weak schedule were they did not play well out of conference. Cincinnati slips in on a stronger schedule and more quality wins say the experts.


Big Ten
#8 Michigan State 13-3 23-5
#19 Purdue 11-5 22-7
#23 Illinois 11-6 23-7
Penn State 9-7 20-9 (Home: Illinois, Away: Iowa)
Wisconsin 9-7 18-10 (Away: Minnesota, Home: Indiana)
Minnesota 8-8 20-8 (Home: Wisconsin, Home; Michigan)
Ohio State 8-8 18-9 (Away: Iowa, Home: Northwestern)
Michigan 8-9 18-12 (Away: Minnesota)

Michigan’s a long shot. The experts put Penn State on the bubble. Go figure.






Mid Major Conferences

Colonial Athletic Conference
Virginia Commonwealth 14-4 21-9
George Mason 13-5 20-9

Towson is buried next to the bottom at 5-13, 10-21 overall. While plans develop for a more respectable arena, fans have to wonder what went wrong. They brought in Pat Kennedy with his major conference resume in 2004 with visions of a perennial conference leader in mind, but the Tigers have not played up to expectations so far.

Loyola, UMBC, Coppin, James Madison, Delaware, William & Mary, East Carolina, and North-Carolina-Wilmington are all buried deep in their respective conferences.

Of Chesapeake area schools, the bragging rights also go to Old Dominion at 12-6, 20-9 overall, but for James Madison, 9-9, 18-13, it just gets worse for teams in this region: Delaware 6-12, 13-18; William & Mary 5-13, 10-19, and Towson 5-13, 10-21.

Southern Conference
North
Western Carolina 11-9 16-14
Chattanooga 11-9 15-16

South
Davidson 18-2 25-6

Patriot
American University 13-1 21-7
Holy Cross 11-3 16-13
Navy 8-6 19-10

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Morgan State 12-3 19-11
South Carolina State 10-6 15-13

Still undecided are conference tournaments with make or break power where the Mid-Majors essentially must win to get in. Some great teams will be heading to the consultation tournament, NIT, while surely some will be screaming to see who sneaks in. While Maryland could pull off the job, it’s hard not to forget how pathetic they looked in many of their losses. How analytic opposed to how much is based on media hype and reputation is hard to assess as no one is privy to the selection committee’s secretive selection meetings.

One way or another, the makeup of this year’s NCAA Tournament will be extremely competitive and the best teams atop the field have suffered some embarrassing losses so this could be a year of huge upsets. March Madness fans know the tournament never follows the script and even if a number one seed wins, the road to the final four is full of landmines and diversions. Who will be this year’s big surprise? Is there another Davidson or Davidson themselves poised to shock the field.

A Good Day For Monday Morning Quarterbacks

Sports Shorts

Wow, what a Monday for good sports talk for the water cooler and lunch room.

NFL
First, how ‘bout those Ravens, hon? It’s been said, “it’s good to be lucky, but it’s lucky to be good.” Both came into play as the Ravens beat Tennessee by a last minute field goal Saturday night. Clearly, the officials gave the Ravens a favor when time had clearly expired before Joe Flacco received the snap leading to a game-breaking pass to Todd Heap. It was a rough brutal game with names like Leonard, Suggs, and Roille injured. Tennessee fans and media seem to take the game’s loss in stride blaming their mistakes more than any lucky breaks the Ravens got. Lord knows, if they had the Baltimore fans attitude, they’d be concocting some sort of conspiracy that the League has it out for a little hick town, Nashville, which is just a bunch of rednecks and country music people. That big bad league favors those big northeastern cities: Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Don’t you get tired of the Baltimore fans who keep feeling sorry for themselves?

Pittsburgh looked murderous after giving up an early touchdown. It will be war on the other side of the Alleghany mountains next Sunday. It’s the Ravens turn to show the Steelers whose boss as they could have easily won either of their first two games, but it will take every ounce of maximum effort the team has in every facet of the game.

College Hoops
What’s up with the North Carolina Tar Heels? 0-2 in the ACC. They looked tentative and forcing shots against Wake Forest who clearly had the upper hand in last night’s game.

Baseball
Congratulations to Rickey Henderson. Wow, was he a player to watch play in his day. Giving him a walk was as good as giving up a triple but serve him a fat strike and he could connect for a homerun. He also played quite a fine left field too. There has never been a leadoff guy like Rickey Henderson. He was perhaps the most exciting player in the 1980’s and early 90’s. How many pitchers and catchers are nervous wrecks thanks to his chaos on the base paths.

It’s about time Jim Rice got elected to the Hall of Fame. His career was short but he was at the very top of his trade from his rookie year in 1975 until his retirement. He played in one of the greatest outfields ever in the great World Series of 1976 with the magic Carlton Fisk home run. With Jim Rice in left, Fred Lynn in center, and Dwight Evans in right with Carl Yazstremski as a backup, DH, and occasional first basemen, not only were they perfect sluggers for Fenway Park, they fielded their positions magnificently. Jim Rice was one heck of a clutch RBI man. His quiet nature perhaps betrayed him in an era of lots of flamboyant superstars like Reggie Jackson.

More NFL
We note with sadness Tony Dungy’s decision to retire. He has much good work to pursue off the field and we wish him well. Will this diminish the Colts’ dominance as one of the most consistent powerful programs in the AFC?

What happened to the Carolina Panthers? It's hard not to show up for a game at home-sweet-home, but they were a mess. Who would have thought Arizona would have so thoroughly roughed them up?

Told you so!

Philadelphia did exactly what we expected against New York. Yes, maybe the Giants needed ol' "Plexiglass" afterall.

Baseball’s Shame
A grand jury has convened to investigate Roger Clemens among others. Who could be surprised if “The Rocket” winds up with a perjury rap?

Media

All-in-all, hat's off to Fox and NBC for providing good, accurate coverage of the playoffs this weekend. For all the brain power Fox has in its pregame team, it would be nice if they'd stick more to the x's and o's and less to the idiot formulaic comedy routines. CBS's team seems to be the most professional.

Chris Berman was in rare form. There is no sports figure more obnoxious than "Boomer" who should pay Boomer Essiason royalties for use of his nickname. His boorish, overbearing style, predictable idiotic schtick and ability to talk without saying much of substance makes enduring the fine coverage the resources of ESPN can provide so horribly compromised. Berman is like that loud mouth who shows up at your favorite watering hole or somebody's obnoxious brother-in-law who someone was forced to invite to the game who thinks everybody is his best friend, the crowd hangs on his every word, and even laughs at his own stupid jokes. Meanwhile, everyone else tries to ignore the jerk with polite smiles, but enough is enough. His routines were tiresome and tedious ten years ago -- the nicknames, the screams, the "wapa-wapa's," the cliches and catch-phrases, and his gift for overstatement make "NFL Prime Time" a real ordeal to get through to hear what the others have to say. Granted, you'd think Mortenson seems like some old bag with big framed glasses and a huge red dyed hairdo gossip reporter for some lady's magazine, and Keeshawn Johnson comes from another planet, still it's a good exchange of information and opinion. That's why we tolerate it inspire of the Swami Blowhard.