Open Court - February 9th

BEAST MODE.

That was the state of mood Duke's Austin Rivers was in when he sank a cold-blooded, walk-off three-ball against North Carolina last night. Who's gonna be in beast mode tonight? Discuss freely.

Open Court - February 7th

Sorry about the lack of open courts in recent weeks. Enjoy this one tonight. Highlighting tonight's action is Florida at Kentucky as the Gators try to halt the Wildcats' streak of 48 straight wins in Rupp Arena.

Bracket Watch '12 - M.I.A. not included

Anyone(other than me, save possibly for Kyle Wheliston) see last night's Superb Owl halftime act? I'll save you the trouble if you didn't. Someone executed a bird flip. End of story. No on to this week's field: As always, it is done as if the season ended the day before.

Final Four pairings:
East(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. Midwest(3)

First Four pairings:
Tuesday: Texas-Arlington(Southland) vs. Mississippi Valley State(Southwestern); Central Florida vs. Cincinnati
Wednesday: UNC Asheville(Big South) vs. Stony Brook(America East); Texas vs. Wyoming

EAST Region

Pittsburgh
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-UTA/MVSU
8-Temple(Atlantic 10) vs. 9-Illinois
Portland
4-San Diego State(Mountain West) vs. 13-Long Beach State(Big West)(Note: Rematch could not be avoided.)
5-Wichita State vs. 12-Iona(Metro Atlantic)
Greensboro
2-North Carolina vs. 15-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)
7-Connecticut vs. 10-Iowa State
Nashville
3-Florida vs. 14-Drexel(Colonial)
6-Michigan vs. 11-California

WEST Region

Omaha
1-Missouri(Big 12) vs. 16-UNCA/Stony Brook
8-Wisconsin vs. 9-Southern Mississippi(Conference USA)
Columbus
4-Marquette vs. 13-Texas/Wyoming
5-Indiana vs. 12-Middle Tennessee(Sun Belt)
Greensboro
2-Duke vs. 15-Long Island(Northeast)
7-Vanderbilt vs. 10-Minnesota
Portland
3-UNLV vs. 14-Cleveland State(Horizon)
6-Louisville vs. 11-Brigham Young

SOUTH Region

Louisville
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Weber State(Big Sky)
8-West Virginia vs. 9-New Mexico
Portland
4-Creighton(Missouri Valley) vs. 13-Central Florida/Cincinnati
5-St. Mary's(West Coast) vs. 12-Purdue
Columbus
2-Michigan State vs. 15-Bucknell(Patriot)
7-Alabama vs. 10-Memphis
Albuquerque
3-Baylor vs. 14-Oral Roberts(Summit)
6-Virginia vs. 11-Washington(Pacific-12)

MIDWEST Region

Pittsburgh
1-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 16-Norfolk State(Mid-Eastern)
8-Kansas State vs. 9-Notre Dame
Louisville
4-Georgetown vs. 13-Davidson(Southern)
5-Murray State(Ohio Valley) vs. 12-Colorado State
Omaha
2-Kansas vs. 15-Akron(Mid-American)
7-Harvard(Ivy) vs. 10-Gonzaga
Nashville
3-Florida State(Atlantic Coast) vs. 14-Nevada(Western Athletic)
6-Mississippi State vs. 11-Xavier

Last four in the field: Texas, Wyoming, Central Florida, Cincinnati
First four left out: Saint Louis, Seton Hall, Dayton, Northwestern
Next four left out: NC State, Northern Iowa, Mississippi, Arizona
Under Consideration: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oregon, Miami(FL), Missouri State, South Dakota State, Massachusetts, LaSalle, South Florida, Marshall, Valparaiso

If Kyle Wheliston reads this blog...

...the final score is...

New York Giants 21
New England Patriots 17.

In fact, if he doesn't read this board, someone should send this post immediately upon reading.

P.S. The bracket has been made out(during halftime no less), but I will post it in the morning.

Bracket Watch - January 30th

Last week I promised to present a tournament based on European Soccer tourneys, but when trying to run it I ran into a lot of trouble. So I've had to put the tournament on the shelf until the end of the season. Now onto this week's projections, which look rather ragged after the week that has occured(Though, admittedly, not as ragged as they were the week previous).

Note: All projections are done as if the season has ended already, with no attempt to predict the future. Conference leaders are determined by each leagues' tiebreakers(Which is new this year, previously, if no H2H meetings had been played, I would revert to the RPI. This year, I won't chance it and will use the criterias the conferences are using to determine seeds) .

Final Four Pairings
East(1) vs. South(4)
Midwest(2) vs. West(3)

First Four Games
Tuesday
Stony Brook(America East) vs. Mississippi Valley State(Southwestern)
Illinois vs. Arkansas
Wednesday
Texas-Arlington(Southland) vs. UNC Asheville(Big South)
North Carolina State vs. Cincinnati

EAST Region

Pittsburgh
1-Syracuse(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook/MVSU
8-Harvard(Ivy) vs. 9-Iowa State
Columbus
4-Wisconsin vs. 13-LaSalle(Atlantic 10)
5-Murray State(Ohio Valley) vs. 12-Louisville
Albuquerque
2-Baylor vs. 15-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)
7-Gonzaga vs. 10-Colorado State
Greensboro
3-North Carolina vs. 14-George Mason(Colonial)
6-Connecticut vs. 11-Iona(Metro Atlantic)

SOUTH Region

Pittsburgh
1-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 16-Long Island(Northeast)
8-Alabama vs. 9-Long Beach State(Big West)
Nashville
4-Georgetown vs. 13-Davidson(Southern)
5-Vanderbilt vs. 12-Xavier
Greensboro
2-Duke vs. 15-Bucknell(Patriot)
7-Wichita State vs. 10-New Mexico
Nashville
3-Florida vs. 14-NC State/Cincinnati
6-Michigan vs. 11-Seton Hall

MIDWEST Region

Louisville
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-Norfolk State(Mid-Eastern)
8-Kansas State vs. 9-Middle Tennessee(Sun Belt)
Portland
4-San Diego State(Mountain West) vs. 13-Notre Dame
5-Indiana vs. 12-Dayton
Omaha
2-Missouri vs. 15-Akron(Mid-American)
7-Virginia vs. 10-Minnesota
Albuquerque
3-Creighton(Missouri Valley) vs. 14-Nevada(Western Athletic)
6-Mississippi State vs. 11-Memphis

WEST Region

Omaha
1-Kansas(Big 12) vs. 16-UTA/UNCA
8-California(Pacific-12) vs. 9-Purdue
Louisville
4-Marquette vs. 13-Illinois/Arkansas
5-Florida State(Atlantic Coast) vs. 12-Oral Roberts(Summit)
Portland
2-Unlv vs. 15-Weber State(Big Sky)
7-St. Mary's(West Coast) vs. 10-Temple
Columbus
3-Michigan State vs. 14-Cleveland State(Horizon)
6-West Virginia vs. 11-Southern Mississipps

Switches: St. Mary's and West Virginia swapped seed lines for better early round placement.

Last four in the field: Illinois, Arkansas, NC State, Cincinnati
First four left out: Washington, Texas, Mississippi, Brigham Young
Next four left out: Massachusetts, Stanford, South Florida, Marshall
Also under consideration: Miami(FL), Saint Louis, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Central Florida, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico State