Ness Notes (March 13)

Gonzaga celebrated her highest ranking of the season (No. 4) last Monday by beating Loyola-Marymount 68-67 in the WCC championship game that night. It was the school’s 18th straight win this year and its 40th straight win at home. Gonzaga’s top 15 fellow schools didn’t fare so well last week, with only No. 3 Duke, No. 5 Memphis and No. 13 UCLA coming out of the week unscathed.

It’s a very short card on Monday and I don’t have a free pick today. However, I am following my 20* NBA Western Conf GOY winner at the Kings last night with a 15* NBA winner tonight (67% in NBA 15* games since Feb 3).

Duke won its seventh ACC tournament in eight years by beating Boston College 78-76 on Sunday and its 16th all time (the most of any ACC school). Memphis won its first C-USA championship by avenging a March 2 loss at UAB in a 57-46 victory over the Blazers on Saturday afternoon. UCLA followed up its first regular-season Pac-10 title since 1997 by winning its first Pac-10 tournament since 1987 on Saturday, beating Cal 71-52.

In descending order, they lost U Conn, Villanova, George Washington, Ohio State, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Boston College, Washington, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh. Duke (ACC) and UCLA (PAC-10) were also the only two schools from all six power conferences to win their respective conference tournaments. U Conn and Villanova (co-champions of the Big East) lost early, Ohio State lost in the Big-10 title game to Iowa, Texas lost in the Big-12 title game to Kansas, and LSU lost to Florida in the SEC semifinals.

There were really no surprises on Sunday, when the selection committee announced the four No. 1 seeds. Duke (the No. 1 overall) got his 10th No. 1 seed since the seeding process began in 1979 and U Conn was the second No. 1 seed, fourth all-time. Villanova and Memphis were the third and fourth No. 1 seeds, both schools earning a first seed for the first time in school history. It should be noted when filling in the parentheses that the four No. 1 seeds have never reached the same Final 4 in the 27 years since seeding began. In fact, in the last three years, only four of the 12 No. 1 seeds have made it that far!

As always, there was plenty of controversy, starting with Tennessee getting the No. 2 seed. Gonzaga (seeded No. 3 in the Oakland region) was a big underdog. Considering that Memphis is the fourth of the four No. 1 seeds and Gonzaga is in the Tigers regional, the committee placed the Bulldogs in 12th place. This for a team that finished 30-3, enters the tournament with the nation’s best 18-game winning streak and will be ranked no worse than fifth when the latest AP poll of the regular season is released later today.

While few would dispute that George Washington earned only a No. 8 spot, little can deny that the Colonials received a huge ‘hit’ this week! GW (ranked No. 6 by the AP) was one of three Division I schools this year to complete its conference schedule undefeated (Bucknell and Gonzaga were the others), also entering the A-10 tournament on a streak of 18 game wins and as the nation’s only one-loss team.

However, the Colonials were ‘thrashed’ by Temple in the quarterfinals (68-53) and using the same ‘math’ as ​​with Gonzaga (they are an 8th seed in the Memphis region), it is reasonable to conclude that the committee had the Colonials ranked as the 32nd best team!

When the dust settled and the 34 blanket bids were announced, the arguments began. Bradley and Air Force (both 13th-seeded) plus Utah State and Texas A&M (both 12th-seeded) were clearly the “last-in teams.” Out in alphabetical order were Cincinnati (19-12), Creighton (19-9), Florida State (19-9), Hofstra (24-6), Maryland (19-12), Michigan (18-10) and State Missouri (20-8). The Air Force and Utah State appeared to be the most questionable overall picks, with most feeling that Cincinnati received a “raw deal.”

Even though Cincinnati didn’t get in, the Big East fielded a record eight schools in this year’s tournament, including two No. 1 seeds. Syracuse, which entered the Big East Tourney in the proverbial “bubble,” actually got the number 5 spot, after winning the Big East Tourney for the second year in a row. Syracuse is the only overall pick in the tournament to post a losing conference record this season, going 7-9 in the Big East.

Behind the Big East, the Big-10 and SEC each received six offers and MVC received as many offers (four) as the ACC, Big-12 and Pac-10. It was really interesting to hear all the complaints from the commentators and analysts as they “cry the blues” about the disrespect shown to the “power” conferences.

This from the same people who over the years have typically complained that small and medium conferences were being undervalued! Guys, make up your mind!

Hofstra’s 24 wins were the most of any school not receiving an invitation, while 16-15 Hampton (MEAC tournament winner), came closest of any school to entering the tournament with a losing record. Since the tournament expanded to a 64-team field in 1985, there have been 14 schools that qualified for the Big Dance with losing records by winning their conference tournaments, including at least one school, in each of the previous four years. .

As for Hofstra, Pride’s 24 wins may be the most of any team sitting out this year, but it’s still short of the all-time record. Howard went 26-5 in 1987 and Southern Illinois went 26-7 in 1990 with neither school receiving an invite in those years. Seven schools won 25 games and didn’t get an NCAA bid, the most recent of which was Utah State (25-3) in 2004!

There will be a lot more NCAA tournament coverage over the next three days and let’s not forget the 40-team NIT field, which starts play tomorrow. The four No. 1 seeds for that tournament are Cincinnati, Maryland, Michigan and Louisville.

In a change this year alone, schools that won their regular season titles but lost in their respective conference tournaments had guaranteed bids for this year’s NIT. Delaware State (MEAC), Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC), Ga Southern (Southern), Manhattan (MAAC), Northern Arizona (Big Sky), and Western Ky (SBC) were the six schools that benefited this year.

In the NBA over the weekend, the Pistons lost in Washington on Saturday night (now 3-9 ATS in their last 12 on the road!) and beat the Bobcats at home on Sunday. Detroit still owns the best record in the league (50-12) and is comfortably ahead of the Heat, who at 41-21 have the second-best record in the East. Miami had its 10-game winning streak snapped Friday night by Golden State (none of the Heat’s victories had come against a team over .500), but beat the Cavs on Sunday.

The Cavs also lost in Orlando on Friday night in embarrassing fashion, 102-73! The Cavs own a 36-28 record, but can only get the fourth seed in the East, as the winner of the Atlantic Division (probably the Nets) will get the third seed. Behind the Pistons and Heat in the East, the 3rd through 8th seeds are within five games of each other. Chicago is 2 1/2 games back in ninth and Boston 10, 3 1/2 games out of last place in the conference playoffs.

In the West, San Antonio and Dallas finished 1-1 apiece, leaving the two Southwest Division teams still tied at 49-14. The Suns (43-19) got Nash back, but after beating the T-wolves on Saturday, they lost in Portland on Sunday night (111-101), to a Blazers team that won for the third time in 17 games.

The Kings beat the Mavs at Arco on Sunday night (85-80), for their 12th consecutive win at home (9-0 SU and ATS with Artest). Sacramento is over .500 (32-31) for the first time this year and slipped a half-game ahead of the Hornets (losers of six in a row) for the final playoff spot in the West.

The Monday night NBA schedule features five games.

closing note

The announcement that Edgerrin James signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals makes a reasonable person wonder. Did his agent for him, Drew Rosenhaus (who handled the TO situation so wonderfully), actually explain to James exactly where he was going?

We now know he will win the starting job at RB, as the Cardinals ranked last in the NFL in 2005, averaging 71.1 YPG and the team’s leading rusher (Marcel Shipp), had just 451 yards. By the way, the Cardinals have had only three 1,000-yard rushers since 1990 and have averaged finishing 24th in the league in rushing yards over the last 16 years.

However, did Drew tell you that the Cardinals have missed the playoffs for the last seven years and that the team’s playoff appearance in 1998 was the club’s only since 1975 (excluding the strike year of 1982 when 16 teams made it to the playoffs?) to the postseason)? Does he also know that the Cardinals are one of four pre-1995 NFL franchises, joining the Browns, Lions and Saints, who never made it to the Super Bowl? Just wondering?

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