Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack:
Spring training leaders in RBI
14— Freeman, LA
13— DeJong CWS
13— Andujar A’s
12— Jimenez CWS
12— Serven Tor
10— Raleigh Sea/Soto NYY/Wall Atl
Quote of the Day
“For 10 years, I have been fortunate to play the game of football at the highest level. I’m thankful for the people I’ve met along the way, the friendships I’ve built and the things I’ve accomplished with my teammates and individually.”
Aaron Donald, who retired Friday, after a great 10-year NFL career
Saturday’s quiz
Which two teams played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009?
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
Thursday’s quiz
Kirk Cousins played his college football at Michigan State.
****************************************************
Since 1985, every team that won the college basketball national championship also made it to the semi-finals of their conference tournament.
Last 12 years, only 4 of 48 Final Four teams lost their first conference tournament game.
This week……..
Alabama, Creighton, Kentucky, Tennessee all lost their first conference tournament game.
— SEC
It was an upsetting day in Nashville; three of four favorites got beat.
Mississippi State 73, Tennessee 56
Bulldogs never trailed, led 38-19 at halftime.
Tennessee is #29 experience team, but they shot 30.6% from the floor.
Texas A&M 97, Kentucky 87
Aggies had only 6 turnovers, scored 1.28 points/possession.
Texas A&M has won five in a row, is now 20-13.
This win would appear to put Texas A&M in the NCAA’s.
Florida 102, Alabama 84
Alabama thinks de-fence is what you put around de-garden.
Crimson Tide gave up 100+ points in three of last six games.
Gators shot 58.1% inside arc, made 31-36 on foul line.
— ACC
NC State 73, Virginia 65, OT
12th-seed Wolfpack is in ACC Final for first time since 2007.
Kid on NC State hit a desperation 28-footer at the buzzer, to force OT.
North Carolina 72, Pitt 65
Carolina has won 8 games in a row, is looking like a #1-seed next week.
Panthers have won 10 of their last 13 games; is it enough to get in NCAA’s?
— Big X
Iowa State 76, Baylor 62
If Iowa State’s uniforms said “Duke” on the front, they might be a #1-seed next week.
Cyclones have won 10 of their last 12 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.9% of time (#2)
Houston 82, Texas Tech 59
This game was tied with 17:40 left to play.
Houston was +11 (19-8) in turnovers.
Cougars have the best eFG% defense in the country.
— American
Temple 58, Charlotte 54
11th-seed Owls have posted upset wins three nights in a row.
Temple is 7-2 in last nine games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
Florida Atlantic 77, North Texas 71
Bubble teams need FAU to win this tournament.
FAU outscored North Texas 26-16 over final 7:51 of game.
— Big 14
Nebraska 93, Indiana 66
Nebraska has won seven of its last eight games.
Cornhuskers are going to NCAA’s for first time in ten years.
Illinois 77, Ohio State 74
Buckeyes led 56-46 with 11:00 left in game.
Illinois is 24-8, looking like a #3-seed in NCAA’s.
Bubble teams liked this score.
— Big East
UConn 95, St John’s 90
UConn shot 11-22 on arc, scored 1.40 points/possession in spirited game.
Huskies are 19-1 since Christmas.
It is possible that St John’s-New Mexico will be a First Four game: Pitino vs Pitino
Marquette 79, Providence 68
Marquette shot 8-15 on arc, Friars were 7-31.
Shaka Smart is now 24-9 in conference tournament games.
Bracketology has Providence on wrong side of the bubble.
— Famous birthdays for March 16:
Chuck Woolery, 84
Kate Nelligan,, 73
Ozzie Newsome, 68
Rodney Peete, 58
Blake Griffin, 35
Tim Hardaway Jr, 32
Joel Embiid, 30
Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 25
— Mountain West
San Diego State 86, Utah State 70
Utah State led 39-36 at halftime.
Aztecs are in final of MW tourney for 7th straight year (3-3 previous six)
New Mexico 74, Colorado State 61
Colorado State didn’t score for last 6:45 of first half.
Rams shot 34.3% from the floor.
This win probably puts New Mexico in the NCAA’s.
— Pac-12
Oregon 67, Arizona 59
Ducks upset #1-seed Arizona.
Game was 33-33 at halftime.
Bubble teams are rooting hard against the Ducks Saturday night.
Colorado 58, Washington State 52
Buffaloes have won eight games in a row.
Colorado is shooting 40.2% on the arc (#3).
Buffaloes start four seniors and a junior.
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 62, Quinnipiac 60
Peacocks upset the MAAC’s #1-seed.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Both teams shot under 40% inside the arc.
Fairfield 65, Marist 61
Stags started season 1-6; they’re 21-5 since then.
Marist led by 9 with 10:10 left in the game.
Fairfield hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 1997.
— Mid-American
Kent State 73, Bowling Green 60
Kent State made 12-18 shots on the arc.
Senior PG Santiago played all 40:00 two nights in a row.
Golden Flashes were only 8-10 in MAC regular season, but play for MAC title tonight.
Akron 65, Ohio U 62
Bobcats led by 10 early in 2nd half, but shot 5-23 on the arc.
Akron is shooting 54.6% inside arc in MAC games, best in league.
— WAC
Grand Canyon 80, Seattle 72
Seattle led 34-32 at halftime.
Antelopes are 28-4; they’ve got #8 eFG% defense in country.
Tex-Arlington 87, Tarleton State 84
Tex-Arlington shot 67.6% inside the arc
Mavericks have won eight games in a row.
Weird thing here; Tarleton State isn’t eligible for NCAA’s this year; had they won this game, Grand Canyon would’ve won the automatic bid to NCAA’s Friday night. Now, they need to beat Tex-Arlington Saturday to make the Field of 68.
— Big West
Cal-Davis 68, Hawai’i 65
Cal-Davis led 22-8 early on, then held on for dear life.
Aggies won their last four games.
Cal-Davis hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2017.
Long Beach State 83, Cal-Irvine 79
Long Beach upsets the #1-seed Anteaters.
Irvine was only 10-19 on the foul line.
This happened three days after Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who is coaching the team thru the end of this season- he’s been at Long Beach for 17 years.
— Conference USA
Tex-El Paso 65, Sam Houston State 63
UTEP upsets the #1-seed Bearkats.
Sam Houston led by 14 with 12:44 left in game.
Sam Houston lost by 2, was 19-34 on foul line.
Western Kentucky 85, Middle Tennessee 54
WKU led 46-27 at half; they shot 11-22 on the arc.
Hilltoppers scored 89-85 points the last two nights.
Saturday’s 6-pack:
Spring training leaders in RBI
14— Freeman, LA
13— DeJong CWS
13— Andujar A’s
12— Jimenez CWS
12— Serven Tor
10— Raleigh Sea/Soto NYY/Wall Atl
Quote of the Day
“For 10 years, I have been fortunate to play the game of football at the highest level. I’m thankful for the people I’ve met along the way, the friendships I’ve built and the things I’ve accomplished with my teammates and individually.”
Aaron Donald, who retired Friday, after a great 10-year NFL career
Saturday’s quiz
Which two teams played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009?
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
Thursday’s quiz
Kirk Cousins played his college football at Michigan State.
****************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a Friday full of basketball…….
Since 1985, every team that won the college basketball national championship also made it to the semi-finals of their conference tournament.
Last 12 years, only 4 of 48 Final Four teams lost their first conference tournament game.
This week……..
Alabama, Creighton, Kentucky, Tennessee all lost their first conference tournament game.
— SEC
It was an upsetting day in Nashville; three of four favorites got beat.
Mississippi State 73, Tennessee 56
Bulldogs never trailed, led 38-19 at halftime.
Tennessee is #29 experience team, but they shot 30.6% from the floor.
Texas A&M 97, Kentucky 87
Aggies had only 6 turnovers, scored 1.28 points/possession.
Texas A&M has won five in a row, is now 20-13.
This win would appear to put Texas A&M in the NCAA’s.
Florida 102, Alabama 84
Alabama thinks de-fence is what you put around de-garden.
Crimson Tide gave up 100+ points in three of last six games.
Gators shot 58.1% inside arc, made 31-36 on foul line.
— ACC
NC State 73, Virginia 65, OT
12th-seed Wolfpack is in ACC Final for first time since 2007.
Kid on NC State hit a desperation 28-footer at the buzzer, to force OT.
North Carolina 72, Pitt 65
Carolina has won 8 games in a row, is looking like a #1-seed next week.
Panthers have won 10 of their last 13 games; is it enough to get in NCAA’s?
— Big X
Iowa State 76, Baylor 62
If Iowa State’s uniforms said “Duke” on the front, they might be a #1-seed next week.
Cyclones have won 10 of their last 12 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.9% of time (#2)
Houston 82, Texas Tech 59
This game was tied with 17:40 left to play.
Houston was +11 (19-8) in turnovers.
Cougars have the best eFG% defense in the country.
— American
Temple 58, Charlotte 54
11th-seed Owls have posted upset wins three nights in a row.
Temple is 7-2 in last nine games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
Florida Atlantic 77, North Texas 71
Bubble teams need FAU to win this tournament.
FAU outscored North Texas 26-16 over final 7:51 of game.
— Big 14
Nebraska 93, Indiana 66
Nebraska has won seven of its last eight games.
Cornhuskers are going to NCAA’s for first time in ten years.
Illinois 77, Ohio State 74
Buckeyes led 56-46 with 11:00 left in game.
Illinois is 24-8, looking like a #3-seed in NCAA’s.
Bubble teams liked this score.
— Big East
UConn 95, St John’s 90
UConn shot 11-22 on arc, scored 1.40 points/possession in spirited game.
Huskies are 19-1 since Christmas.
It is possible that St John’s-New Mexico will be a First Four game: Pitino vs Pitino
Marquette 79, Providence 68
Marquette shot 8-15 on arc, Friars were 7-31.
Shaka Smart is now 24-9 in conference tournament games.
Bracketology has Providence on wrong side of the bubble.
— Famous birthdays for March 16:
Chuck Woolery, 84
Kate Nelligan,, 73
Ozzie Newsome, 68
Rodney Peete, 58
Blake Griffin, 35
Tim Hardaway Jr, 32
Joel Embiid, 30
Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 25
— Mountain West
San Diego State 86, Utah State 70
Utah State led 39-36 at halftime.
Aztecs are in final of MW tourney for 7th straight year (3-3 previous six)
New Mexico 74, Colorado State 61
Colorado State didn’t score for last 6:45 of first half.
Rams shot 34.3% from the floor.
This win probably puts New Mexico in the NCAA’s.
— Pac-12
Oregon 67, Arizona 59
Ducks upset #1-seed Arizona.
Game was 33-33 at halftime.
Bubble teams are rooting hard against the Ducks Saturday night.
Colorado 58, Washington State 52
Buffaloes have won eight games in a row.
Colorado is shooting 40.2% on the arc (#3).
Buffaloes start four seniors and a junior.
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 62, Quinnipiac 60
Peacocks upset the MAAC’s #1-seed.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Both teams shot under 40% inside the arc.
Fairfield 65, Marist 61
Stags started season 1-6; they’re 21-5 since then.
Marist led by 9 with 10:10 left in the game.
Fairfield hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 1997.
— Mid-American
Kent State 73, Bowling Green 60
Kent State made 12-18 shots on the arc.
Senior PG Santiago played all 40:00 two nights in a row.
Golden Flashes were only 8-10 in MAC regular season, but play for MAC title tonight.
Akron 65, Ohio U 62
Bobcats led by 10 early in 2nd half, but shot 5-23 on the arc.
Akron is shooting 54.6% inside arc in MAC games, best in league.
— WAC
Grand Canyon 80, Seattle 72
Seattle led 34-32 at halftime.
Antelopes are 28-4; they’ve got #8 eFG% defense in country.
Tex-Arlington 87, Tarleton State 84
Tex-Arlington shot 67.6% inside the arc
Mavericks have won eight games in a row.
Weird thing here; Tarleton State isn’t eligible for NCAA’s this year; had they won this game, Grand Canyon would’ve won the automatic bid to NCAA’s Friday night. Now, they need to beat Tex-Arlington Saturday to make the Field of 68.
— Big West
Cal-Davis 68, Hawai’i 65
Cal-Davis led 22-8 early on, then held on for dear life.
Aggies won their last four games.
Cal-Davis hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2017.
Long Beach State 83, Cal-Irvine 79
Long Beach upsets the #1-seed Anteaters.
Irvine was only 10-19 on the foul line.
This happened three days after Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who is coaching the team thru the end of this season- he’s been at Long Beach for 17 years.
— Conference USA
Tex-El Paso 65, Sam Houston State 63
UTEP upsets the #1-seed Bearkats.
Sam Houston led by 14 with 12:44 left in game.
Sam Houston lost by 2, was 19-34 on foul line.
Western Kentucky 85, Middle Tennessee 54
WKU led 46-27 at half; they shot 11-22 on the arc.
Hilltoppers scored 89-85 points the last two nights.
SATURDAY, MARCH 16
| Game | Time(ET) | Pick | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at DET | 12:30 PM | DET +110 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| OTT at NYI | 12:30 PM | NYI -163 O 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| NYR at PIT | 03:00 PM | PIT +126 O 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| NJ at ARI | 05:00 PM | ARI +147 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| TB at FLA | 06:00 PM | FLA -174 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| PHI at BOS | 07:00 PM | BOS -178 O 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| MON at CAL | 07:00 PM | MON +143 U 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| SJ at CLB | 07:00 PM | SJ +179 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| CAR at TOR | 07:00 PM | CAR -126 O 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| LA at DAL | 08:00 PM | DAL -164 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| MIN at STL | 08:00 PM | STL +113 O 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| NAS at SEA | 10:00 PM | SEA +103 U 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| COL at EDM | 10:00 PM | EDM -133 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| WAS at VAN | 10:00 PM | VAN -218 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
Sunday’s 6-pack:
Teams that played the easiest non-conference schedules this season:
(conference record)
— Minnesota (9-11)
— George Washington (4-14)
— Tulsa (7-11)
— Air Force (2-16)
— Fort Wayne (11-9)
— TCU (9-9)
Quote of the Day
“There’s a lot of baseball players that are like milk. Milk is only good when it’s fresh. And then as you leave it out a while, it spoils. There are some other baseball players that are like wine. … Those are the only two kinds. You’re either milk or you’re wine. There’s no in the middle.”
Phillies OF Nick Castellanos
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; which team recovered the one onside kick?
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
*********************************************************
Long Beach State 83, Cal-Davis 68
Monday, Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who has been at Long Beach for 17 years.
Long Beach goes out and wins the Big West tournament, getting to NCAA’s for first time since 2012. Last three years, Long Beach is 43-22 in conference games; the AD looks like a jackass.
Long Beach actually paid a lot of Monson’s salary by playing guarantee games in November (Michigan, DePaul, USC, San Diego State this year); most of the $$$ they got for playing those games went to Monson. Long Beach wasn’t actually paying him that much out of their pocket.
— Big 14
Wisconsin 76, Purdue 75
Badgers shot 59.5% inside arc.
Wisconsin was 3-8 in its last 11 regular season games.
Purdue was 24-32 on foul line, Badgers 5-9.
Illinois 98, Nebraska 87
Illinois outscored Nebraska 58-34 in second half.
Terrence Shannon scored 40 points (13-16 on foul line)
Illini won eight of its last ten games.
— Big X
Iowa State 69, Houston 41
Iowa State outscored Houston 39-18 in second half.
Cyclones have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.7% of time (#2)
— American
Temple 74, Florida Atlantic 73
11th-seed Temple has posted upset wins four nights in a row.
Temple is 8-2 in last ten games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
FAU looks like they’re still solidly in the Field of 68.
UAB 93, South Florida 83
UAB shot 61% inside arc.
Bulls won AAC regular season with a 16-2 mark, but they’re on bubble now.
Temple-UAB winner Sunday is a bid-stealer from a bubble team.
— SEC
Auburn 73, Mississippi State 66
Auburn shot 61.3% inside the arc.
Auburn has best eFG% defense in country.
Miss State had 17 offensive boards, but was 3-15 on the arc.
Florida 95, Texas A&M 90
Florida made 14-26 shots on the arc.
Gators scored 94 ppg in winning the last three days.
There were 67 foul shots in this game; lot of whistles.
— ACC
NC State 84, North Carolina 76
Wolfpack wins five games in five days to win its first ACC tournament since 1987.
State shot 59.5% inside the arc.
Tournament title kicks in a multi-year contract extension for coach Keatts.
— Word of the Day: Sláinte- means “health” in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.
— Big East
UConn 73, Marquette 57
First time UConn won a conference tournament since 2016 AAC tourney.
Huskies are 20-1 since Christmas.
UConn has #6 eFG% in country, #4 eFG% defense.
— Mountain West
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61
Lobos won four days in a row, giving up 61 ppg.
New Mexico wins MW tournament for first time since 2014.
San Diego State was in MW tourney final for 7th straight year (3-4)
Ledee (25 points) was only Aztec to score more than 8 points.
— Ivy League
Brown 90, Princeton 81
#1-seed Princeton gets upset here.
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Yale 69, Cornell 57
Yale never trailed, held Big Red to 32.8% from floor.
Yale has won two of last four Ivy League tournaments.
— Pac-12
Oregon 75, Colorado 68
Ducks’ big man Dante was 12-12 from floor, scored 25 points.
Oregon won its last four games, is in NCAA’s for first time since 2021.
Colorado had its 8-game win streak snapped.
— Famous birthdays for March 17:
Cito Gaston, 80
Kurt Russell, 73
Gary Sinise, 69
Danny Ainge, 65
Sam Bowie, 63
Rob Lowe, 60
Rhys Hoskins, 31
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63
Fairfield led this game by 10 points early in 2nd half.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Stags missed their last 15 shots behind the arc.
— Mid-American
Akron 62, Kent State 61
Kent State scored to go ahead by a point with 0:06 left; one of their guys thought they were still losing. When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State kid fouls the guy with the ball on purpose, giving the Zips foul shots with 0:04.8 left, which they made.
Kent PG Santiago played all 40:00 for third night in a row.
— Conference USA
Western Kentucky 78, Texas-El Paso 71
Hilltoppers trailed by 6 with 13:18 left in game.
WKU shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Hilltoppers are in NCAA’s for first time since 2013.
— America East
Vermont 66, UMass Lowell 61
Catamounts win America East tourney for 5th time in seven years.
Vermont was +8 in turnovers (14-6).
Vermont beat St John’s in November, lost to Virginia by 6.
— MEAC
Howard 70, Delaware State 67
Bison won 7 of last 8 games, after an 11-15 start.
Howard is in NCAA’s for second year in a row (22-13 LY)
Howard has a 6-9 graduate student, Seth Towns:
2016-17- scored 12.3 ppg at Harvard
2017-18- was Ivy League Player of Year at Harvard
2018-19- medical redshirt
2019-20- medical redshirt
2020-21- scored 3.8 ppg at Ohio State
2021-22- medical redshirt
2022-23- voluntarily took last year off
2023-24- is scoring 14.2 ppg for Howard.
— SWAC
Grambling 75, Texas Southern 66
Grambling is in the NCAA’s for the first time ever.
Tigers won nine of their last ten games.
Teams that played the easiest non-conference schedules this season:
(conference record)
— Minnesota (9-11)
— George Washington (4-14)
— Tulsa (7-11)
— Air Force (2-16)
— Fort Wayne (11-9)
— TCU (9-9)
Quote of the Day
“There’s a lot of baseball players that are like milk. Milk is only good when it’s fresh. And then as you leave it out a while, it spoils. There are some other baseball players that are like wine. … Those are the only two kinds. You’re either milk or you’re wine. There’s no in the middle.”
Phillies OF Nick Castellanos
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; which team recovered the one onside kick?
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
Friday’s quiz
Bryce Drew was Vanderbilt’s coach, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament in 2017; he is coaching Grand Canyon now.
*********************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a Saturday full of basketball…….
— Big WestLong Beach State 83, Cal-Davis 68
Monday, Long Beach fired coach Dan Monson, who has been at Long Beach for 17 years.
Long Beach goes out and wins the Big West tournament, getting to NCAA’s for first time since 2012. Last three years, Long Beach is 43-22 in conference games; the AD looks like a jackass.
Long Beach actually paid a lot of Monson’s salary by playing guarantee games in November (Michigan, DePaul, USC, San Diego State this year); most of the $$$ they got for playing those games went to Monson. Long Beach wasn’t actually paying him that much out of their pocket.
— Big 14
Wisconsin 76, Purdue 75
Badgers shot 59.5% inside arc.
Wisconsin was 3-8 in its last 11 regular season games.
Purdue was 24-32 on foul line, Badgers 5-9.
Illinois 98, Nebraska 87
Illinois outscored Nebraska 58-34 in second half.
Terrence Shannon scored 40 points (13-16 on foul line)
Illini won eight of its last ten games.
— Big X
Iowa State 69, Houston 41
Iowa State outscored Houston 39-18 in second half.
Cyclones have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.7% of time (#2)
— American
Temple 74, Florida Atlantic 73
11th-seed Temple has posted upset wins four nights in a row.
Temple is 8-2 in last ten games, which followed an 0-10 streak.
FAU looks like they’re still solidly in the Field of 68.
UAB 93, South Florida 83
UAB shot 61% inside arc.
Bulls won AAC regular season with a 16-2 mark, but they’re on bubble now.
Temple-UAB winner Sunday is a bid-stealer from a bubble team.
— SEC
Auburn 73, Mississippi State 66
Auburn shot 61.3% inside the arc.
Auburn has best eFG% defense in country.
Miss State had 17 offensive boards, but was 3-15 on the arc.
Florida 95, Texas A&M 90
Florida made 14-26 shots on the arc.
Gators scored 94 ppg in winning the last three days.
There were 67 foul shots in this game; lot of whistles.
— ACC
NC State 84, North Carolina 76
Wolfpack wins five games in five days to win its first ACC tournament since 1987.
State shot 59.5% inside the arc.
Tournament title kicks in a multi-year contract extension for coach Keatts.
— Word of the Day: Sláinte- means “health” in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.
— Big East
UConn 73, Marquette 57
First time UConn won a conference tournament since 2016 AAC tourney.
Huskies are 20-1 since Christmas.
UConn has #6 eFG% in country, #4 eFG% defense.
— Mountain West
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61
Lobos won four days in a row, giving up 61 ppg.
New Mexico wins MW tournament for first time since 2014.
San Diego State was in MW tourney final for 7th straight year (3-4)
Ledee (25 points) was only Aztec to score more than 8 points.
— Ivy League
Brown 90, Princeton 81
#1-seed Princeton gets upset here.
Brown has only been in NCAA’s once (1986)
Yale 69, Cornell 57
Yale never trailed, held Big Red to 32.8% from floor.
Yale has won two of last four Ivy League tournaments.
— Pac-12
Oregon 75, Colorado 68
Ducks’ big man Dante was 12-12 from floor, scored 25 points.
Oregon won its last four games, is in NCAA’s for first time since 2021.
Colorado had its 8-game win streak snapped.
— Famous birthdays for March 17:
Cito Gaston, 80
Kurt Russell, 73
Gary Sinise, 69
Danny Ainge, 65
Sam Bowie, 63
Rob Lowe, 60
Rhys Hoskins, 31
— MAAC
Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63
Fairfield led this game by 10 points early in 2nd half.
Saint Peter’s has won seven of its last nine games.
Stags missed their last 15 shots behind the arc.
— Mid-American
Akron 62, Kent State 61
Kent State scored to go ahead by a point with 0:06 left; one of their guys thought they were still losing. When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State kid fouls the guy with the ball on purpose, giving the Zips foul shots with 0:04.8 left, which they made.
Kent PG Santiago played all 40:00 for third night in a row.
— Conference USA
Western Kentucky 78, Texas-El Paso 71
Hilltoppers trailed by 6 with 13:18 left in game.
WKU shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Hilltoppers are in NCAA’s for first time since 2013.
— America East
Vermont 66, UMass Lowell 61
Catamounts win America East tourney for 5th time in seven years.
Vermont was +8 in turnovers (14-6).
Vermont beat St John’s in November, lost to Virginia by 6.
— MEAC
Howard 70, Delaware State 67
Bison won 7 of last 8 games, after an 11-15 start.
Howard is in NCAA’s for second year in a row (22-13 LY)
Howard has a 6-9 graduate student, Seth Towns:
2016-17- scored 12.3 ppg at Harvard
2017-18- was Ivy League Player of Year at Harvard
2018-19- medical redshirt
2019-20- medical redshirt
2020-21- scored 3.8 ppg at Ohio State
2021-22- medical redshirt
2022-23- voluntarily took last year off
2023-24- is scoring 14.2 ppg for Howard.
— SWAC
Grambling 75, Texas Southern 66
Grambling is in the NCAA’s for the first time ever.
Tigers won nine of their last ten games.
NY ISLANDERS are 7-1 Over (5.9 Units) in road games when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the current season.
NEW JERSEY is 70-48 Over (17.2 Units) in road games in all games in the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 8-2 Over (5.8 Units) in home games after a blowout loss by 3 goals or more in their previous game in the current season...
COLUMBUS are 26-19 ATS (5.1 Units) in home games in non-conference games in the last 3 seasons.
OTTAWA is 13-25 ATS (-14.5 Units) in home games when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the last 3 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 9-1 Under (7.9 Units) in home games revenging a loss vs opponent of 2 goals or more in the current season.
ST LOUIS are 9-3 ATS (5.7 Units) in home games when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the current season.
NEW JERSEY is 70-48 Over (17.2 Units) in road games in all games in the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 8-2 Over (5.8 Units) in home games after a blowout loss by 3 goals or more in their previous game in the current season...
COLUMBUS are 26-19 ATS (5.1 Units) in home games in non-conference games in the last 3 seasons.
OTTAWA is 13-25 ATS (-14.5 Units) in home games when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the last 3 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 9-1 Under (7.9 Units) in home games revenging a loss vs opponent of 2 goals or more in the current season.
ST LOUIS are 9-3 ATS (5.7 Units) in home games when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the current season.
SUNDAY, MARCH 17
| Game | Time(ET) | Pick | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| NYI at NYR | 01:00 PM | NYR -149 O 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| NJ at VEG | 03:30 PM | NJ +155 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| DET at PIT | 06:00 PM | PIT -142 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| SJ at CHI | 06:00 PM | CHI -167 O 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| WIN at CLB | 06:00 PM | CLB +204 O 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| CAR at OTT | 06:00 PM | CAR -194 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| ANA at STL | 07:00 PM | STL -215 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
Monday’s 6-pack:
Highest-rated teams that missed the NCAA Tournament:
— St John’s
— Wake Forest
— Villanova
— Cincinnati
— Pittsburgh
— Oklahoma
Quote of the Day
“I knew it was going to be hard, especially when we’re building off of not much tradition……I was the most relaxed I’ve ever been. I just tried to enjoy it for the first time in my life.”
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot; Dukes are in NCAAs for first time since 1977
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, what famous actress played George Clooney’s wife?
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
Saturday’s quiz
Syracuse-UConn played a 6-overtime game in the Big East tournament, back in 2009.
************************************************
Monday’s Den: Quick thoughts after seeing the brackets…….
Some quick thoughts on each of the four play-in games, and the 28 first round games where we know the matchups. After this, I’m off to study………Tuesday’s games
Colorado State-Virginia
Since 2019, Virginia has been in the NCAA’s four times:
In 2019, Virginia won the national title.
The other three years, Virginia lost in the first round.
Wagner-Howard
NEC teams are 5-5 in play-in games.
MEAC teams are 4-4 in play-in games.
Wagner went 7-9 in the 2nd-worst league in the country.
Wednesday’s games
Colorado-Boise State
All-time, Boise State is 0-9 in NCAA Tournament games, the most tournament games any team has played without getting a win.
Grambling-Montana State
Montana State is in NCAA’s for 3rd year in a row, but this year, they went 9-9 in Big Sky games. The last two years, Bobcats were 31-7 in Big Sky games.
This is Grambling’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game.
Thursday’s games
South Dakota State-Iowa State
Since 2012, Jackrabbits are 0-6 in NCAA Tournament games, 2-3-1 ATS.
From 2017-19, Iowa State coach Otzelberger went 70-33 coaching South Dakota State.
Saint Peter’s-Tennessee
Since 2003, MAAC teams are 6-13 ATS in first round games, but 3-1 the last four years. Peacocks were in the Elite 8 two years ago, but the coach/players from that team have moved on.
Last five years, Tennessee is 4-1 SU/2-3 ATS in first round games.
Long Beach State-Arizona
From 1983-2007, Lute Olson went 589-187 coaching Arizona, winning a national title in 1997. Olson also coached Long Beach State for a year; he replaced Jerry Tarkanian there in 1973-74, going 24-2; he left after a year to coach Iowa.
Dan Monson has coached Long Beach State for 17 years (275-272), but got fired last week; he made the NCAA’s at Long Beach one other time, in
2012.
Morehead State-Illinois
Illinois coach Underwood has made NCAA’s seven times, for three different schools; he is 4-3 SU/ATS in first round games.
Oakland-Kentucky
Oakland is in NCAA’s for first time since 2011; over last 11 years, Horizon teams are 4-7 ATS in first round games.
Under John Calipari, Kentucky is 5-6 ATS in first round games.
Akron-Creighton
Last seven years, MAC teams are 3-4 SU/6-1 ATS in first round games.
Under McDermott, Creighton is 6-2 SU/4-4 ATS in first round games. This is second time Bluejays have been a #3-seed, tied for best seed Creighton has been under McDermott.
Samford-Kansas
Jayhawks have injury issues: Dickinson/McKullar didn’t play in the Big X tournament. Kansas lost four of its last five games.
14 of the last 15 years, a #4-seed lost in the first round. Is Samford good enough to pull an upset?
McNeese State-Gonzaga
While coaching at VCU/LSU, McNeese coach Will Wade was 3-2 SU in first round games. This season, his first at McNeese, Wade has the Cowboys at 30-3, their first winning season since 2012- they’ve won games at VCU, UAB and Michigan.
Since 2003, Gonzaga is 18-2 SU/9-11 ATS in first round games; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, as a #7-seed, to Seth Curry’s Davidson team.
Duquesne-BYU
Duquesne is in NCAA’s for first time since 1977; their coach is Keith Dambrot, who was Lebron James’ high school coach.
BYU is in NCAA’s for only 2nd time since 2015; they haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2012.
NC State-Texas Tech
Wolfpack won five games in five days to win ACC Tournament, and get to this point; they went 2-7 in their last nine regular season games.
Texas Tech is shooting 36.5% on the arc (#38), getting 33.9% of their points on 3’s (#84).
Oregon-South Carolina
Much like NC State, Ducks were a surprise winner of their conference tournament. Under Dana Altman, Oregon is 7-0 SU in first round games in the NCAA’s.
This is South Carolina’s 2nd NCAA bid since 2004; they made the Final 4 as a #7-seed in 2017, when Frank Martin was coach.
Drake-Washington State
Bulldogs have #27 eFG% in country, they get good shots. Their best player is Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son; he is shooting 36.4% on arc. Drake is #1 team in country on defensive boards.
Washington State is in NCAA’s for first time since 2008; they’ve got the #35 eFG% defense.
Nevada-Dayton
Nevada won 7 of its last 8 games; CBS left them hanging a little when they announced the brackets- they have to be relieved to be in the tournament. In his coaching career, Steve Alford is 7-5 in first round games.
Dayton split its last four games, after a 21-4 start; they’re shooting 40.2% on the arc, #3 in the country.
Michigan State-Mississippi State
Spartans got in tournament despite losing five of their last seven games. Coach Izzo won five of his last six first round games.
Mississippi State also lost five of its last seven games; coach Jans is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last six years. Bulldogs are #21 team in country on the offensive boards.
Friday’s games
Northwestern-Florida Atlantic
Northwestern is in NCAA’s for 2nd year in row, 3rd time in 8 years; they went 10-2 outside the Big 14, with a #355 non-conference strength of schedule.
FAU was in the Final Four LY, as a #9-seed; they have wins this year over Arizona, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech- they lost 98-89 to Illinois.
Colgate-Baylor
Last 10 years, Patriot League teams are 4-6 ATS in first round games; Colgate went 2-2 ATS the last four years, with losses by 7-17-7-20 points.
Since 2016, Baylor is 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS in first round games.
Alabama-Birmingham-San Diego State
UAB won its last five games; they’re only in because they won the AAC Tournament. Blazers are 8-6 vs top 100 teams this season.
San Diego State lost the national title game LY, after losing in first round the first two years before that
.
Western Kentucky-Marquette
Hilltoppers play the fastest tempo of any team in country; they won the C-USA Tournament, after losing their last four regular season games. WKU split two games with #95 Louisiana Tech, the best team they played this season.
Marquette’s star G Kolek (oblique) missed the last six games, which Marquette split. Shaka Smart got VCU to the Final Four in 2011; since 2014, he is 1-6 in first round games (beat Vermont 78-61 last year).
Stetson-UConn
Stetson (Jacob deGrom’s alma mater) is in NCAA’s for first time. Over last 10 years, A-SUN teams are 4-6 SU/7-3 ATS in first round games.
UConn won national title last year, after losing in first round the first two years before that. Last six years, #1-seeds are 10-14 ATS in first round games.
New Mexico-Clemson
New Mexico allowed 76+ points in seven of its eight losses. Last eight years, underdogs are 18-14 ATS in first round games between #6-11 seeds.
Clemson lost three of its last four games; since 1998, Tigers are 1-6 SU in first round games.
Yale-Auburn
Yale was down 6 with 0:27 left Sunday, rallied to pull out the win and the Ivy League title. Bulldogs are in NCAA’s for third time in five years; since 2010, Ivy League teams are 9-3 ATS in first round games.
Auburn won its last six games, five of them by 14+ points; in his career, Bruce Pearl is 8-4 SU/5-7 ATS in first round games, 3-7 as a favorite.
Texas A&M-Nebraska
Aggies have #345 eFG% in country; they’re #1 in country on offensive boards. A&M won five of its last six games, after an 0-5 skid.
Nebraska has #15 eFG% defense in country.
This year, SEC teams are 9-4 SU/ATS against Big 14 opponents.
Vermont-Duke
Vermont is in NCAA’s for 5th time in last seven tournaments; they went 2-2 ATS in previous four NCAA games.
Duke is 4-2-1 ATS in its last seven 1st round games. Last five years, #4-seeds are 6-14 ATS in first round games.
Charleston-Alabama
Charleston won its last 12 games; LY, they had won 10 in row before losing 63-57 to San Diego State in first round. CAA teams lost their last 10 first-round games (0-4 ATS last four).
Alabama lost four of its last six games, giving up 100+ points three times.
Early total on this game is 171.5; Alabama plays pace #9, Charleston #59.
Longwood-Houston
Big South teams haven’t won a first round game since 2007 (Winthrop); since 2008, they’re 4-9 ATS in this round. Longwood went 6-10 in Big South this year; they played #344 non-conference schedule.
Houston has #2 eFG% defense in country; they’re #13 team on offensive boards.
James Madison-Wisconsin
Dukes won their last 13 games, longest current win streak in country; they’ve got #24 eFG% defense, #34 eFG%, but that was against schedule #293.
Under Gard, Wisconsin is 4-1 SU/ATS in first round games. Badgers went 3-1 in Big 14 tournament, after losing 8 of last 11 regular season games.
TCU-Utah State
TCU won first round games last two years, 69-42/72-70. Horned Frogs are forcing turnovers 20.8% of time (#22); they’re #20 team on offensive boards.
Utah State won six of its last seven games; they’re 12-1 out of conference, vs schedule #141. Aggies were in three of last four NCAA’s, but lost in first round all three times.
Grand Canyon-Saint Mary’s
Grand Canyon is in NCAA’s for 3rd time in four years; they lost other two games, by 12 points each. Antelopes have #10 eFG% defense in country. WAC teams are 4-2 SU/6-0 ATS against WCC opponents, but none of games were against Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s.
Saint Mary’s is best rebounding team in country; since 2017, Gaels are 3-1 in first round games, winning last two years in first round, by 29-12 points.
WASHINGTON is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after scoring 2 goals or less in 2 straight games in the current season.
BUFFALO is 11-3 ATS (7.7 Units) in road games revenging a home loss versus opponent of 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
NHL
Monday, March 18
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Trend Report
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Washington @ Calgary
Washington
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Calgary's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing at home against Washington
Buffalo @ Seattle
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 6 games
Seattle
Seattle is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUFFALO is 11-3 ATS (7.7 Units) in road games revenging a home loss versus opponent of 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
NHL
Monday, March 18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington @ Calgary
Washington
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Calgary's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing at home against Washington
Buffalo @ Seattle
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 6 games
Seattle
Seattle is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo
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Armadillo Sports
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting first round games in the NIT:
— South Florida-Central Florida
— Kansas State-Iowa
— North Texas-LSU
— Cornell-Ohio State
— Richmond-Virginia Tech
— Cal Irvine-Utah
Quote of the Day
“It’s like riding with Helen Keller!!!”
Overheard at lunch Monday, an older woman complaining about her husband’s driving
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas and what other two teams?
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
*****************************************
— Late Monday night, Giants signed P Blake Snell for two years, $62M. Snell has won two Cy Young awards; he was 14-9, 2.25 for the Padres last year.
Here’s the thing about Snell; 32 starts last year, only 180 IP, 17 outs per game. You pay a guy $31M a year, you expect him to finish the 6th inning. At least.
In 2022, he threw 128 IP in 24 starts, 16 outs/start. He doesn’t give the bullpen a night off.
— A few weeks ago, 3B JD Davis won his salary arbitration case with the Giants, was set to bank $6.9M this year, but contracts won in arbitration aren’t guaranteed. Giants dumped Davis and signed free agent Matt Chapman, paying Davis $1.1M to take a hike.
Davis then signed with the Oakland A’s for $2.5M, meaning he lost $3.3M and is now on a much worse team, although he’ll play every day now.
— Tampa Bay Rays’ over/under win total this year is 84.5; over the last five years, Tampa Bay has averaged 95.4 wins/season, despite having a small budget.
— In the NBA, Indiana Pacers have scored 120+ points in 45 games, the most times an NBA team has done that in a season since the Denver Nuggets, 40 years ago.
— In the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to have a Jaromir Jagr bobblehead giveaway last week, but had to cancel when the shipment of bobbleheads got stolen. People who had tickets for the giveaway night got vouchers to get the bobbleheads, when they re-appear.
Some of the vouchers have already surfaced on E-Bay.
— NHL rule I never heard of: If teams are in overtime/shootout, the losing team gets a point, but if a team were to pull its goalie in overtime to try and win the game, they don’t get the point if they don’t win.
— Alabama gave its new football coach Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer a contract worth $10.875M a year. Good luck replacing Nick Saban, maybe the greatest college football coach ever.
— Movie of the Day: Autumn in New York (2000)- An aging playboy falls for a sweet, but terminally ill young woman.
Excellent cast: Richard Gere is the playboy, Winona Ryder is the young woman, JK Simmons is the surgeon who tries to save her. Anthony LaPaglia, Jill Hennessy, Sherry Stringfield are also in the movie, which is a sad movie, but a very good one.
— Famous birthdays for March 19:
Glenn Close, 77
Bruce Willis, 69
Mike Norris, 69
Andre Miller 48
Casey Jacobsen, 43
Clayton Kershaw, 36
— On the Hoops page of this blog, we have write-ups on all the NCAA games for the play-in games, plus all of Thursday’s games. I’ll post write-ups on Friday’s games late Wednesday night.
Some other college basketball notes:
— Some prominent college hoop programs passed on playing in the NIT; truth is, no one gives a rat’s ass about the NIT, but there’s another reason, a new reason.
The college basketball transfer portal opened Monday; fact of the matter is, coaches have to make the NCAA’s to keep their jobs, and the transfer portal is a hell of a lot more important to a program than playing in the obscurity of the NIT.
Improving your roster now means that a team can play in next year’s NCAA Tournament, which will help the coach’s job security.
— Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is 8-18-1 against the spread in first round NCAA games.
— The four #10-seeds who are in the play-in games Tuesday/Wednesday are Colorado State, Boise State, Colorado and Virginia.
There have been two teams who won play-in games and then made it to the Final Four: VCU in 2011 and UCLA three years ago.
— 2008 is the only time all four teams in the Final Four were #1-seeds; the last two years, only one #1-seed made the Final Four.
— Last three years, not only did a #15-seed upset a #2-seed, the #15-seed also won their next games and made it to the Sweet 16.
— Last six defending national champs missed the Sweet 16; if UConn gets beat this year, by Stetson, FAU or Northwestern, it would be a huge upset.
— Last time Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament was 1998; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, when Davidson beat them- they had a pretty good guard, Steph Curry.
— Last three years, the team that won the Big 14 Tournament went 1-3 in the NCAA’s; overall, Big 14 teams went 17-7 in first round, 4-13 in 2nd round, 1-3 in Sweet 16, 0-1 in Elite 8.
Last Big 14 team to make the Final Four was Michigan State in 2019. Last Big 14 team to win the national title? Also the Spartans, in 2000.
— Last Pac-12 team to win the national title? Arizona, in 1997.
— November 2018, Vanderbilt was off to a 4-0 start, but then their star player Darius Garland got hurt, missed the rest of the season and Vandy finished 9-23. Vanderbilt fired Bryce Drew, who had made the NCAA’s two years earlier, and hired former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse.
Five years later, Garland is a solid NBA player, Vanderbilt just fired Stackhouse, who went 70-92 in five years with the Commodores, with no NCAA bids.
Meanwhile, Bryce Drew is in the NCAA’s with his Grand Canyon team; it is the third time in four years the Antelopes are in the NCAA’s.
Bottom line is, lot of college administrators are over-educated morons.
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting first round games in the NIT:
— South Florida-Central Florida
— Kansas State-Iowa
— North Texas-LSU
— Cornell-Ohio State
— Richmond-Virginia Tech
— Cal Irvine-Utah
Quote of the Day
“It’s like riding with Helen Keller!!!”
Overheard at lunch Monday, an older woman complaining about her husband’s driving
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas and what other two teams?
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
Sunday’s quiz
NFL teams recovered only one of 31 onside kicks last year; Arizona Cardinals recovered the one onside kick.
*****************************************
Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….
— Late Monday night, Giants signed P Blake Snell for two years, $62M. Snell has won two Cy Young awards; he was 14-9, 2.25 for the Padres last year.
Here’s the thing about Snell; 32 starts last year, only 180 IP, 17 outs per game. You pay a guy $31M a year, you expect him to finish the 6th inning. At least.
In 2022, he threw 128 IP in 24 starts, 16 outs/start. He doesn’t give the bullpen a night off.
— A few weeks ago, 3B JD Davis won his salary arbitration case with the Giants, was set to bank $6.9M this year, but contracts won in arbitration aren’t guaranteed. Giants dumped Davis and signed free agent Matt Chapman, paying Davis $1.1M to take a hike.
Davis then signed with the Oakland A’s for $2.5M, meaning he lost $3.3M and is now on a much worse team, although he’ll play every day now.
— Tampa Bay Rays’ over/under win total this year is 84.5; over the last five years, Tampa Bay has averaged 95.4 wins/season, despite having a small budget.
— In the NBA, Indiana Pacers have scored 120+ points in 45 games, the most times an NBA team has done that in a season since the Denver Nuggets, 40 years ago.
— In the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to have a Jaromir Jagr bobblehead giveaway last week, but had to cancel when the shipment of bobbleheads got stolen. People who had tickets for the giveaway night got vouchers to get the bobbleheads, when they re-appear.
Some of the vouchers have already surfaced on E-Bay.
— NHL rule I never heard of: If teams are in overtime/shootout, the losing team gets a point, but if a team were to pull its goalie in overtime to try and win the game, they don’t get the point if they don’t win.
— Alabama gave its new football coach Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer a contract worth $10.875M a year. Good luck replacing Nick Saban, maybe the greatest college football coach ever.
— Movie of the Day: Autumn in New York (2000)- An aging playboy falls for a sweet, but terminally ill young woman.
Excellent cast: Richard Gere is the playboy, Winona Ryder is the young woman, JK Simmons is the surgeon who tries to save her. Anthony LaPaglia, Jill Hennessy, Sherry Stringfield are also in the movie, which is a sad movie, but a very good one.
— Famous birthdays for March 19:
Glenn Close, 77
Bruce Willis, 69
Mike Norris, 69
Andre Miller 48
Casey Jacobsen, 43
Clayton Kershaw, 36
— On the Hoops page of this blog, we have write-ups on all the NCAA games for the play-in games, plus all of Thursday’s games. I’ll post write-ups on Friday’s games late Wednesday night.
Some other college basketball notes:
— Some prominent college hoop programs passed on playing in the NIT; truth is, no one gives a rat’s ass about the NIT, but there’s another reason, a new reason.
The college basketball transfer portal opened Monday; fact of the matter is, coaches have to make the NCAA’s to keep their jobs, and the transfer portal is a hell of a lot more important to a program than playing in the obscurity of the NIT.
Improving your roster now means that a team can play in next year’s NCAA Tournament, which will help the coach’s job security.
— Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is 8-18-1 against the spread in first round NCAA games.
— The four #10-seeds who are in the play-in games Tuesday/Wednesday are Colorado State, Boise State, Colorado and Virginia.
There have been two teams who won play-in games and then made it to the Final Four: VCU in 2011 and UCLA three years ago.
— 2008 is the only time all four teams in the Final Four were #1-seeds; the last two years, only one #1-seed made the Final Four.
— Last three years, not only did a #15-seed upset a #2-seed, the #15-seed also won their next games and made it to the Sweet 16.
— Last six defending national champs missed the Sweet 16; if UConn gets beat this year, by Stetson, FAU or Northwestern, it would be a huge upset.
— Last time Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament was 1998; last time they lost a first round game was 2008, when Davidson beat them- they had a pretty good guard, Steph Curry.
— Last three years, the team that won the Big 14 Tournament went 1-3 in the NCAA’s; overall, Big 14 teams went 17-7 in first round, 4-13 in 2nd round, 1-3 in Sweet 16, 0-1 in Elite 8.
Last Big 14 team to make the Final Four was Michigan State in 2019. Last Big 14 team to win the national title? Also the Spartans, in 2000.
— Last Pac-12 team to win the national title? Arizona, in 1997.
— November 2018, Vanderbilt was off to a 4-0 start, but then their star player Darius Garland got hurt, missed the rest of the season and Vandy finished 9-23. Vanderbilt fired Bryce Drew, who had made the NCAA’s two years earlier, and hired former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse.
Five years later, Garland is a solid NBA player, Vanderbilt just fired Stackhouse, who went 70-92 in five years with the Commodores, with no NCAA bids.
Meanwhile, Bryce Drew is in the NCAA’s with his Grand Canyon team; it is the third time in four years the Antelopes are in the NCAA’s.
Bottom line is, lot of college administrators are over-educated morons.
NHL
Tuesday, March 19
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Trend Report
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Tuesday, March 19
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Trend Report
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TUESDAY, MARCH 19
| Game | Time(ET) | Pick | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIT at NJ | 07:00 PM | NJ -117 U 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| WIN at NYR | 07:00 PM | WIN +108 U 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| OTT at BOS | 07:00 PM | OTT +201 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| CLB at DET | 07:00 PM | DET -161 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| TOR at PHI | 07:00 PM | TOR -126 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| CAR at NYI | 07:30 PM | NYI +135 O 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| COL at STL | 08:00 PM | STL +187 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| SJ at NAS | 08:00 PM | SJ +345 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| MON at EDM | 09:00 PM | EDM -376 U 6.5 | +500 +500 |
| MIN at ANA | 10:00 PM | MIN -215 U 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| CHI at LA | 10:00 PM | CHI +325 U 5.5 | +500 +500 |
| BUF at VAN | 10:00 PM | BUF +173 U 6.0 | +500 +500 |
| TB at VEG | 10:00 PM | VEG -131 O 6.5 | +500 +500 |
Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Leading rebounders in the NBA:
13.7/game— Domantas Sabonis, Sac
12.9— Rudy Gobert, Minn
12.3— Anthony Davis, Lakers
12.3— Nikola Jokic, Den
11.9— Jalen Duren, Det
11.2— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milw
Quote of the Day
“I like recruiting transfers; their cars are already paid for.”
The late Jerry Tarkanian, who coached UNLV to national prominence in the 70’s/80’s
Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Bull Durham, what did Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) do in his first at-bat with the Bulls?
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas, San Francisco and San Diego. He’s won four World Series, three of them with the Giants.
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
********************************************************************
NCAA play-in games:
— Wagner 71, Howard 68
Wagner jumped out to a 21-10 lead, led 38-27 at halftime.
Seahawks advance to lose to North Carolina in their next game.
Wagner is 0-2 vs top 100 teams, losing by 21 to Seton Hall, by 34 to Providence.
— Colorado State 67, Virginia 42
Cavaliers shot 25% from floor, an ugly performance.
This is 7th time this season Virginia lost by 20+ points.
Rams shot 63.6% inside arc, led 27-14 at halftime.
Part of me thinks the four play-in games should be the last eight at-large teams; teams that win their conference tournament should get to play on Thursday/Friday, giving them a couple more days to enjoy the experience.
Another part of me thinks that the national TV exposure they get during the play-in games has to help their recruiting, so that is good, too.
NIT games:
— Ohio State 88, Cornell 83
Cornell was up 10 early, led 81-79 with 1:04 left.
Buckeyes were 13-22 on foul line, Cornell 5-6.
— Minnesota 73, Butler 72
Golden Gophers shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Butler led 70-67 with 1:24 left.
— South Florida 83, Central Florida 77
USF shot 13-24 on arc, led 49-35 at halftime.
Bulls have won 23 of their last 26 games.
— Boston College 62, Providence 57
Eagles have won five of their last six games.
Three guys on Providence played 39 or 40 minutes.
— Georgia 78, Xavier 76
Dawgs led 65-42 with 13:25 left, then held on for dear life.
Georgia’s bench outscored Xavier’s, 35-7.
— Word of the Day: Transition- a change from one state or condition to another.
— Famous birthdays for March 20:
Pat Riley, 79
Rick Langford, 72
Steve McCatty, 70
Amy Aquino, 67
Kathy Ireland, 61
Mookie Blaylock, 57
— Abilene Christian 73, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 63
Wildcats have won eight of their last 10 games.
Corpus Christi shot 2-24 on arc, 19-30 on foul line.
— Tarleton State 82, Texas Southern 71
Tarleton State put five players in double figures.
Texans have won 12 of their last 14 games.
— North Texas 84, LSU 77
Mean Green had lost 66-62 to LSU back in November.
North Texas shot 11-26 on the arc.
— Iowa 91, Kansas State 82
Payton Sandfort made 7-11 shots on the arc.
Iowa was 22-30 on foul line, K-State 8-16.
— Virginia Tech 74, Richmond 58
Spiders led 22-13 early on, then it went south on them.
Hokies have won four of their last five games.
— Utah 84, Cal-Irvine 75
Utes start four seniors; PG Smith had 13 points, 10 assists.
Utah hosts Iowa in its next game, Sunday.
— Kansas star Kevin McCullar is out of the NCAA Tournament with a bone bruise in his knee.
— Note of the Day: The last 36 NCAA Tournament teams that were seeded #1 or #2, who were unranked in the preseason top 25? None of those 36 teams made the Final Four. Iowa State falls into that category this year.
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Leading rebounders in the NBA:
13.7/game— Domantas Sabonis, Sac
12.9— Rudy Gobert, Minn
12.3— Anthony Davis, Lakers
12.3— Nikola Jokic, Den
11.9— Jalen Duren, Det
11.2— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milw
Quote of the Day
“I like recruiting transfers; their cars are already paid for.”
The late Jerry Tarkanian, who coached UNLV to national prominence in the 70’s/80’s
Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Bull Durham, what did Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) do in his first at-bat with the Bulls?
Tuesday’s quiz
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy has led three teams to a World Series; Texas, San Francisco and San Diego. He’s won four World Series, three of them with the Giants.
Monday’s quiz
In the movie Oceans Eleven, Julia Roberts played George Clooney’s wife.
********************************************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
NCAA play-in games:
— Wagner 71, Howard 68
Wagner jumped out to a 21-10 lead, led 38-27 at halftime.
Seahawks advance to lose to North Carolina in their next game.
Wagner is 0-2 vs top 100 teams, losing by 21 to Seton Hall, by 34 to Providence.
— Colorado State 67, Virginia 42
Cavaliers shot 25% from floor, an ugly performance.
This is 7th time this season Virginia lost by 20+ points.
Rams shot 63.6% inside arc, led 27-14 at halftime.
Part of me thinks the four play-in games should be the last eight at-large teams; teams that win their conference tournament should get to play on Thursday/Friday, giving them a couple more days to enjoy the experience.
Another part of me thinks that the national TV exposure they get during the play-in games has to help their recruiting, so that is good, too.
NIT games:
— Ohio State 88, Cornell 83
Cornell was up 10 early, led 81-79 with 1:04 left.
Buckeyes were 13-22 on foul line, Cornell 5-6.
— Minnesota 73, Butler 72
Golden Gophers shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Butler led 70-67 with 1:24 left.
— South Florida 83, Central Florida 77
USF shot 13-24 on arc, led 49-35 at halftime.
Bulls have won 23 of their last 26 games.
— Boston College 62, Providence 57
Eagles have won five of their last six games.
Three guys on Providence played 39 or 40 minutes.
— Georgia 78, Xavier 76
Dawgs led 65-42 with 13:25 left, then held on for dear life.
Georgia’s bench outscored Xavier’s, 35-7.
— Word of the Day: Transition- a change from one state or condition to another.
— Famous birthdays for March 20:
Pat Riley, 79
Rick Langford, 72
Steve McCatty, 70
Amy Aquino, 67
Kathy Ireland, 61
Mookie Blaylock, 57
— Abilene Christian 73, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 63
Wildcats have won eight of their last 10 games.
Corpus Christi shot 2-24 on arc, 19-30 on foul line.
— Tarleton State 82, Texas Southern 71
Tarleton State put five players in double figures.
Texans have won 12 of their last 14 games.
— North Texas 84, LSU 77
Mean Green had lost 66-62 to LSU back in November.
North Texas shot 11-26 on the arc.
— Iowa 91, Kansas State 82
Payton Sandfort made 7-11 shots on the arc.
Iowa was 22-30 on foul line, K-State 8-16.
— Virginia Tech 74, Richmond 58
Spiders led 22-13 early on, then it went south on them.
Hokies have won four of their last five games.
— Utah 84, Cal-Irvine 75
Utes start four seniors; PG Smith had 13 points, 10 assists.
Utah hosts Iowa in its next game, Sunday.
— Kansas star Kevin McCullar is out of the NCAA Tournament with a bone bruise in his knee.
— Note of the Day: The last 36 NCAA Tournament teams that were seeded #1 or #2, who were unranked in the preseason top 25? None of those 36 teams made the Final Four. Iowa State falls into that category this year.
