Nate is Back!

This was a post that I was going to make yesterday, but I decided to make sure that I was not jumping the gun before the biggest game of the season.

All I have to say is Nate Robinson is once again Nate Robinson.

When this season began, Nate had taken his game to another level. He was spotting up for threes from way down town, he was making moves that no one else could do, and he was just frankly playing the game at an incredibly high emotional level.

However, when the NC State game came, something happened, and he hadn't been the same since. He started forcing shots, and he just wasn't the same player that he used to be. Going into that game he was averaging 22.5 points per game and was shooting 53% from beyond the arc.

Against the Wolfpack though, he hit a wall. While the Huskies won, Nate chipped in only seven points including 0-5 from three-point range. He has averaged just 12.8 points and hit less points in those 17 games (18) than he did in the previous 8 (22). He no longer looked as confident as before and got stiffled on defense fairly easily. With the exception of a game here and there he was not the same Nate.

On Thursday, that all changed. He looked again like he had at the beginning of the year. There is a sense that anything is possible. He made shots that no one else makes. He was sinking threes again. He even dunked for just the second time all year.

It looked like he was back, but the question was whether he could keep it up for the biggest game of the year.

Today, he was there again. He made shots, got to the three point line, and bombed it from three-point range. He put the team on the back at the end and hit the crucial free throws. He would not be denied. You could tell that he did not want to lose to Arizona, and he did not let it happen.

If Nate keeps this up the rest of the year, then Final Four here they come. When he's on, the Huskies are nearly unbeatable.

Power 16

Here is my first version of the Power 16:

The No. 1 Seeds:
Illinois (28-0): Michigan State in the Big 10 tourney will be final test before the NCAAs.
North Carolina (23-3): I hate UNC...
Boston College (22-2): Villanova just had more to play for with a tournament bid on the line.
Duke (20-4): No Sean Dockery may mean no final four for Duke.

The No. 2 Seeds:
Wake Forest(23-4): If they had beat Duke, they'd be the one seed.
Kentucky (21-3): The SEC may be better than the Pac 10, but not by much.
Arizona (23-4): Right now, Salim Stoudamire > J.J. Reddick.
Michigan State (20-4): Beating Wisconsin today put them here.

The No. 3 Seeds:
Washington (21-4): Nate the Great needs to start bringing more to the plate.
Oklahoma State (20-4): Setback against Nebraska won't matter if they beat Kansas.
Gonzaga (21-4): Almost lost to San Francisco at home...
Louisville (23-4): No late-season melt down YET this season.

The No. 4 Seeds:
Alabama (21-5): Crimson Tide a close second to Kentucky for best team in SEC.
Syracuse (23-5): Big East's poor foresight may costs Orange a second shot at Boston College.
Kansas (20-4): Beat Oklahoma State or goodbye to the Power 16.
Villanova (18-6): Kansas, Pittsburgh, and BC will tell you to watch out for 'Nova.

The first Patriot League post

This past summer I bought a book at the bookstore called The Last Amateurs. Before I bought it, I have never heard of it, so I knew basically knew nothing about it. It ended up being one of the best books that I have ever read. It was a great look inside the 1999-2000 Patriot League season, and makes you realize that there is basketball outside of the major conferences.

The book boosted an interest in smaller conference teams that I have had for a while. So, I will post on occasion about the Patriot League, and here is the first post. I can't wait until Championship Week to get a glimpse of two of the teams.

All eight teams are in action for the Patriot League tonight. The most important game of the night will be Bucknell at Holy Cross. Only two more conference games remain for each team, so this is the home stretch.

Bucknell @ Holy Cross: This is a rematch of the Crusader's only conference loss of the season. Bucknell came into the season looking like the pre-season favorite, especially after their 69-66 victory at Pittsburgh who was ranked 7th at the time. In the first conference game for both team's Bucknell beat Holy Cross 59-43 at home. Since then, Holy Cross has kicked it into gear as they have won eleven straight going into tonight's matchup. Win today and the Crusaders clinch the Patriot League regular season title, lose and they will probably clinch Saturday against Army.

Here is a look at the Standings:

Patriot League
Team	Conf. W-L	Tot. W-L
Holy Cross	11-1	20-5
Bucknell	9-3	18-8
Lehigh	7-5	13-12
American	6-6	13-11
Colgate	6-6	11-13
Lafayette	4-8	8-17
Navy	4-8	8-17
Army	1-11	3-21

SEC/Pac-10 Challenge

While perusing ESPN.com today, I saw an article talking about an extension for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It said that the event would expand from nine to eleven teams next year and would last until 2010. What is so great about the setup is that nine of the games will be played on ESPN or ESPN2.

That got me to thinking that the Pac-10 could use something similar to this. Maybe they could team up with the SEC or Big 12, seed the teams and play them on national TV. This would be great for a couple of reasons:

1) Right now the Pac-10 does not get much air time nationally with their current television package and increasing that would be great for the conference.

2) It would give all the teams an extra quality opponent every year that is about on par with the quality of that team.

3) It would create some excitement for the two conferences, as every team would be playing a vital out-of-conference team at the same time.

4) It would see how the Pac-10 ranks up when competing head-to-head against the top-10 teams in another conference.

If they were to take an example of maybe an SEC/Pac-10 challenge, and play it out, the top five games could be seeded something like this:

Game 1: Kentucky vs. Arizona
Game 2: Alabama vs. Washington
Game 3: Mississippi State vs. Stanford
Game 4: Florida vs. UCLA
Game 5: LSU vs. Arizona State

In this example, the two locks for the tournament for both conferences (Washington and Arizona from the Pac-10 and Kentucky and Alabama from the SEC) would play each other on national TV, boosting exposure and their tournament resumes by possibly adding a quality win. In the other three games listed above, the three bubble teams from each conferences would have duked it out earlier in the season, with a victory helping their tournament chances.

Just an idea.

Bracketology

This is my rundown for which teams I think should fill the at-large spots in the tournament. First, there are 31 automatic bids, so that leaves 34 at-large bids to fill out the bracket.

American East: Vermont
Not likely to get two bids in if Vermont wins the conference tournament; however, if Boston University defeats the Catamounts in the final, then Vermont has done enough to get an at-large spot.

Atlantic 10: George Washington and St. Joseph's
Both have done enough to get in if neither wins the A-10 tourney.

ACC: UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech
I like Virginia Tech a lot right now. They have impressed me by beating Georgia Tech, Duke, and Miami twice. It would be very impressive if the Hokies could make the tournament in just their first season in the ACC. They have two very winable games against Clemson and NC State before a big matchup against Maryland to end the season.

Big 12: Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, and Iowa State
Iowa State looks to be the candidate to be this year's Washington Huskies. They started 0-5 in conference and have since won seven straight including beating Kansas on Saturday. Looking at their schedule they could finish with 11 straight to go 11-5 in conference.

Big East: Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Villanova
That's right! I am picking the Big East to have more at-large bids than the ACC. This year's version of the Big East is just deeper than the ACC, and it's going to get even more so adding Louisville and Cincinnati next season. Plus, the have Boston College, the Eagles are soaring at number three!

Big Ten: Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin
Ohio State would be currently sitting on a pretty strong bubble right now if it weren't for the fact that they are banned from post-season play. Instead the Buckeye's will be staying home with a possible shot at 20 wins.

Conference USA: Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Memphis
Memphis has a shot at making the tournament if they can continue going strong. Their waxing of Louisville last week helped them a lot. They still have to play Cincinnati, Charlotte, and Louisville. Going 3-1 in their final four games could get them in.

Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois and Wichita State
I don't see another bid coming from the Valley unless neither Wichita State or Southern Illinois wins the conference tournament.

Pac-10: Arizona, Washington, Stanford, and UCLA
This has nothing to do with the tournament, but isn't it just awesome to look at the Pac-10 standings and realize that at this point, Oregon isn't even going to make the conference tournament. I hate the Ducks.

SEC: Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Florida, and Mississippi State
Yet another major conference having a down year. Mississippi State is going to need to finish strong to solidify it's case for entry into the tournament without winning the SEC tourney.

WCC: Gonzaga and St. Mary's
Yet another year that the WCC has shown that it is among the best of the mid-major conferences in Division I. They are consistently getting two bids into the tournament.

WAC: Nevada and UTEP
Though they didn't help their case by losing to Pacific in the bracket buster on Saturday, I still think that UTEP has the best shot for one of the final at-large bids. They are already at 20 wins and have created a sizable lead for second in the conference.

Huskies back on the winning track

I was a little bit worried about the Washington State game before it happened, but now that it has come and gone I have no idea why. The Cougars are simply, just bad. None of the WSU players can score, it's really quite pathetic. The game wasn't close anywhere after the first ten minutes.

Next up are Arizona and Arizona State at home. These are going to be big ones, especially the matchup against the Wildcats next weekend. The Pac-10 title will be on the line in this one, a victory and the conference crown has a good chance of coming to Seattle, a loss and they are all but out of it.

Game of the Week:
Syracuse 60, Boston College 65
I don't know if anyone has noticed yet, but Boston College is pretty good. Jared Dudley is also really, really good and he is only a sophomore. BC dominated most the game, giving the Orangemen a lead for only about 2 1/2 minutes in the entire contest.

That victory, coupled with the Villanova win today all but wraps the conference title for the Eagles.

Teams I like this Week:
Iowa State: This year's version of last year's Huskies
Villanova: Allen Ray might be another Ray Allen
USC: I will be rooting for them because any win they get will help put Oregon in the Pac-10 cellar, and that would be awesome.
Pacific: You have to like a west coast mid-major like Pacific getting some love. They beat Providence in the first round of the NCAAs last year, who knows what will happen this March.