The sun is starting to shine again, the smell of new grass, and all the rest of that lame sounding stuff means just one thing: baseball is back.

Don’t make the mistake that the game is back and better than ever. The sport has been severely damaged by steroid issues the past number of years and once superstars have become sad, sad images of criminals and cheaters. There is nothing more in the world Bud Selig and the entire sport wants than for people to return their focus to the diamond and the games themselves. Football’s popularity is at staggering heights, but baseball is still ‘America’s past time.’ There’s still something special about the sport that no other game can match.

With 2008 comes new faces in new places. Johan Santana to the Mets, Torii Hunter to the Angels, and Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers. The season is a grueling number of months and lasts 162 games; anything can happen. Who’s going to fall to injury? Who’s going to be this year’s young stars? Nobody knows the answers. The only thing we know is that the Red Sox are the defending champions and that this year should shake up to be a hell of a lot of fun. Here’s the final projections, all the way up to the World Series, for the 2008 season in Major League Baseball.

NL East                                                AL East

1. New York Mets                                 1. Boston Red Sox

2. Philadelphia Phillies*                       2. New York Yankees

3. Atlanta Braves                                  3. Toronto Blue Jays

4. Washington Nationals                      4. Tampa Bay Rays

5. Florida Marlins                                  5. Baltimore Orioles

NL Central                                          AL Central

1. Chicago Cubs                                     1. Detroit Tigers

2. Milwaukee Brewers                         2. Cleveland Indians*

3. Cincinnati Reds                                 3. Minnesota Twins

4. Houston Astros                                 4. Chicago White Sox

5. St. Louis Cardinals                            5. Kansas City Royals

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West                                               AL West

1. Arizona Diamondbacks                    1. LA Angels of Anaheim

2. San Diego Padres                             2. Seattle Mariners

3. Los Angeles Dodgers                       3. Texas Rangers

4. Colorado Rockies                             4. Oakland Athletics

5. San Francisco Giants

NLDS                                                 ALDS

3 2              3 1
   3 2               3  1

NLCS                                                 ALCS

4 2             4 3

World Series

4 1

Detroit Tigers, 2008 World Series Champions

Could it happen? Check back in 6 months.

Oh, and check out our friends over at We Should Be GM’s for in-depth analysis

On Saturday UCLA and UNC punched their final 4 tickets to San Antonio. How did the big boys, the strong number #1 seeds get it done? For UCLA it was a change of pace and a welcome one at that. The Bruins didn’t exactly open up a huge lead, but they were in control of the game the entire time. At the half they were up 9, and used a huge run early in the 2nd half to bust this one open, and went on to win 76-57. For UNC it was a tight game for about 25 minutes, and then their all American big man Tyler Hansbrough absolutely took over. Hansbrough had 20 2nd half points, most at crucial moments of the contest when Louisville had crawled back to a tie or within a few points, to propel the Heels forward.

So 2 tickets have been punched; the Tar Heels and Bruins will be representing the ACC and Pac-10 in the Final 4 this year in San Antonio. But 2 more slots remain: can Davidson pull another trick from their sleeve and upend the top seed Jayhawks? Can Texas stop the fast paced high flying top seeded Tigers? Here’s a breakdown of the 2 games:

Sunday

South Regional Final - (1) v (2) - 2:20p, Houston

Memphis is 36-1 this season, undefeated in Conference USA, with their lone loss coming to Tennessee. Their resume speaks volumes of their ability to win big games, but still, the Tigers have been a popular pick to be the first top seed to be bounced. So, naturally in response to that criticism all they’ve done is win their first 3 games, 2 in convincing fashion. They had an easy time with their #16 seed opponent UT-Arlington, and a few days ago absolutely manhandled the Michigan State Spartans. Those were the convincing wins, the trouble was the 3 point escape over Mississippi State. An interesting aspect of that 3 point win was that they were slowed down and forced to play more of a halfcourt game. They obviously ended up winning, as their big stars showed up: Rose (17, 9, 7) and Douglas-Roberts (17,5,4). This team loves to run, and they love transition baskets more than anyone left in the tourney. They spread the ball around well on the break too, and can motor to a huge lead in just minutes.

As soon as the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday, my eyes were glued to the potential match-up of Memphis/Texas in the South region. Here we are in the elite 8 and we have just that. The Longhorns had an outside shot at a top seed and deservingly so, 31-6 is no slouch of a season. But after their Big-12 conference championship game loss to Kansas, they were awarded the #2 seed and ran with it. They plowed through Austin Peay 74-54, survived a late Miami run to win 75-72, and cruised past Stanford 82-62. Although the Miami game finished with a 3 point margin, Texas was hitting on most cylinders. The real coming out party of this team was their prolific win against the Lopez twins and Stanford. Texas plays a lot of 3 guard sets, and people expected trouble on the inside against the 7 foot Lopez towers; this was not the case. Damion James was a power in the paint, scoring 18 points. As Stanford focused more defensive attention inside, the big men were able to kick it out to guards like star D.J. Augustin, who finished with 23 points and 7 assists. In that game, Texas shot a marvelous 49.2% from the floor and held the Cardinal to a mere 33.8%.

This is going to be a heck of a ball game, that’s the big thing people should know: no team is going to run away with this one. These teams are too balanced, too deep, and too well coached to be blown out on either end. Texas is feeling good after toppling a good Stanford team and Memphis is still playing with a chip on their shoulder. Both teams are going to get good guard play. Augustin for Texas, Douglas-Roberts for Memphis. The teams can play inside too, with Dorsey and James. I think the edge in this game comes down to 2 things: homecourt advantage and coaching. This game is in Houston which is a virtual home game for the Longhorns. Now, you better believe Memphis will have their fans there, but the crowd will be a heavy Texas favorite which is big. As for coaching, both of these coaches have been to a final 4 before. But I like what Rick Barnes has done with this team in a tough Big-12. He’s been criticized in the past for some questionable coaching decisions, but things are rolling right now, and as long as they stick to their game, things should keep rolling. I like Texas to move on to San Antonio in a close one.

Midwest Regional Final - (1) v (10) - 5:05p, Detroit

The fans and alumni of the Jayhawks had very high expectations when Bill Self was hired some years ago now, and that hasn’t wavered one bit. They expect a championship every year, and so far, Self and his teams have only gotten as far as the Elite 8. This year, Kansas is stronger, faster, more experienced, and just a more complete basketball team. They finished the season a staggering 31-3 including a Big-12 championship game win over rival Texas. Arthur, Rush, Chalmers, and Jackson all averaged double figure scoring, and this team has a deep bench too. Kansas was the “worst” of the top seeds, but they’ve arguably played the best 3 games. They trounced Portland State by 24, topped UNLV by 19, and cruised past Villanova by 15. Like a Memphis team, this Kansas squad loves the fast break. They can score inside or kick it out and shoot the 3 with exceptional success.

Davidson was one of the last at-large bids for this year’s tournament. Looking at what they’ve done, kudos to the panel for putting them in. Lead by shooting sensation Stephen Curry, who averaged 25 per game in the regular season, Davidson has beaten 3 champions of different sorts in their 3 games thus far. They beat the West Coast regular season champions Gonzaga in their first round game, topped regular season Big East champion Georgetown, and finally beat Big-10 regular season champion Wisconsin. Stephen Curry is averaging a mind blowing 34.8 points per game, that’s good for 2nd all time in the tournament. Don’t be fooled though, this team goes far beyond just Curry. One of their post players, Andrew Lovedale, doubled his regular season numbers against Wisconsin and provides great energy. This is the Cinderella team of the tournament for sure, but after beating the #2 and #3 seeds in the region, it’s time to take them pretty seriously.

You’d love to give the experience edge in big games to Kansas and rightfully so. But in the regular season, Davidson played away from home at UCLA, at Duke, and at North Carolina. Despite losing those games, they came within arms reach in each contest and learned valuable lessons on how to play and beat the big boys. Obviously to win, they have to shoot the ball well. This team is based on shooting and nobody is better than Curry right now. If he gets off to a fast start it should be a good momentum builder for the Wildcats. But even if Curry is hot right from the start, I just don’t think this team has enough to beat a team as deep as Kansas. Kansas sends unbelievable athletes out there and role players that contribute at just the right times (Kahn, etc). I like the Jayhawks to be the 3rd top seed to reach the final 4, mainly because of their balance, their relentless fast break attack, and overlooked but very good defense.

Enjoy the games!

photos courtsey of wacotrib.com and loserswithsocks.com

All year long the Flyers have been questioned. All year long the Flyers have looked rather inconsistent — until now. When they absolutely had to have their team working on all cylinders, the orange and black have shown up in anticipation of playoff hockey. The last 6 games of the 2007-08 season for the fly guys are all against divisional opponents. The Eastern Conference playoff race is as tight as it’s ever been in recent memory. Entering tonight’s contest against the Islanders, only 4 points separated the fourth place Devils from the eighth place Flyers. After beating the Isles in an exciting come-from-behind (twice) shootout game, the Flyers look like they’re not only ready to get themselves into the playoffs, but to be a big force once they get there.

Before going 5-0-1 in their last six games, the Flyers were constantly blowing leads, giving up cross-ice passes when they tried to get the puck out of their own zone, and lacked effort when times called for urgency. Lately the team has reversed all three of those bad habits. Although a team fighting for playoff contention never wants to find themselves in a hole early in the game, but that is exactly what has happened for the past couple games for the team. For a change the Flyers are now chopping away at those leads and working their way back into games. Largely on the shoulders of future captain Mike Richards, and the $10 million man Danny Briere, the orange and black now refuse to quit and are beginning to score big, game changing goals rather than tossing in the towel midway through the third.
Photo courtesy valorfaerie

The second most disturbing thing that the Flyers were doing in the stretch prior to their most recent successful run was trying to break out of the zone using home-run passes. This often resulted in turnovers and ultimately goals for the opponent but as of late the Flyers are taking a different approach. Kimmo Timonen, arguably the best defenseman this year, is starting to lead the team out of its own zone by carrying the puck or making short passes to move ahead. This has led to the Flyers giving up fewer unnecessary goals and gaining big-time momentum moving into the opponent’s end.

A constant weakness for the club was also energy which seems odd for a team with the likes of Mike Richards, Sami Kapanen, Steve Downie and Scottie Upshall. For whatever reason the team was unresponsive when they needed a big shift or to rebound after giving up a goal but recently that has changed. Danny Briere is white hot right now. The center now has 9 points in his last 5 games. Mike Richards has heaved the team up onto his shoulders at times as well and carried them with big goals like his overtime game winner against the Rangers on Tuesday night.

One thing that has stayed relatively consistent in the second half of the season has been goaltending. At any given time the Flyers have had at least one hot goalie. While Antero Niitymaki perhaps saved the season against Atlanta last week, Marty Biron has been playing well lately and it seems as though John Stevens has chosen his number one net-minder in Biron.

So as the Flyers heat up, one can’t help but look ahead and wonder about possible playoff opponents. Who is the best match up against the Flyers? On the Flyers official website 51% say it would be Carolina. While the Flyers have fared well against the ‘Canes this year (3-0-1) they are also playing great hockey right now with a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games going into their game Saturday night. The Flyers might also do well against the Penguins or the Senators. Teams the Flyers don’t want to face are New Jersey and Montreal. The Flyers are a combined 1-9-1 against those two teams.

Although it’s a nice thought to compare potential playoff opponents, the team has to get there first. They have three games remaining. Two against Pittsburgh and one against New Jersey. The Flyers will have to continue to play well if they want to think about the second season but right now things are definitely looking up for the boys in orange and black.

Friday’s games proved to be pretty bland, as Kansas, Davidson, Memphis, and Texas won by 15, 17, 18, and 20, respectively. The Jayhawks romped ‘Nova as the talk of them being too balanced, too, deep, and too strong proved to be true in a 72-57 finish. The Cinderella of the tournament, the Davidson Wildcats, beat Bo Ryan’s Badgers 73-56 after being tied at halftime. Stephen Curry?…well, I’ll get to him later. Memphis ran Izzo and the Spartans nearly out of the gym in the first half, building a 30 point halftime lead, and cruised to an easy 18 point win. Texas had strong play from Augustin and their 3 guard set on the perimeter, but were effective in the paint against the Lopez twins too, winning going away, 82-62.

So the field of 64 has been whittled to just 8 teams; 8 teams that will be trimmed to 4 by Sunday night. Besides Davidson, a #10 seed in the midwest, there aren’t a hell of a lot of surprises: all four #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and two #3 seeds. Here’s how the bracket looks:

Left Side

East Region:  (1)   v  (3)

Midwest Region:  (1)   v  (10)

Right Side

South Region: (1) v  (2)

West Region:  (1)   v  (3)

So, what’s going to happen over the next few days? How are the next 4 games going to shake down; will all 4 top seeds keep on going? Let’s take a look at Saturdays 2 games:

Saturday

West Regional Final - (1)   v  (3) - 6:40p, Phoenix

It was a popular pick to pencil in the Bruins all the way to the final 4 on Selection Sunday, and if you did, your bracket might still be doing pretty well. But Ben Howland’s crew has made you sweat through the process. It hasn’t been pretty for UCLA after they beat the 16 seed Mississippi Valley State, as they were truly pushed to the limit against Texas A&M and Western Kentucky. This isn’t shocking if you take a look at the Bruins over the latter part of their season; they haven’t won a lot of games going away. One positive out of this is that they find ways to win, and a win is all that matters. But can they get by Xavier with 35 mediocre minutes and a strong finish?

The A-10 regular season champs got a nice seeding in the tournament, and when the 2, 4 and 5 seeds (Duke, UConn, Drake) all dropped in the 1st weekend, things looked pretty good for the Musketeers. As the message “remember Ohio State” (lost last year to the 1 seed in OT) was drilled into their minds, they took the court and avoided an upset by topping the SEC champs Georgia. Their next few games would be against opponents a bit more difficult, Purdue and West Virginia. But the experience of this team proved true, as the won both games, the latter in OT.

When you look inside, all you can think about is Kevin Love. The ridiculously good freshman averaged an impressive double double and does all the little things right. Heck, against Western Kentucky they even got career numbers from Keefe. Xavier answers with Josh Duncan, who at times, has played beyond his normal abilities. Duncan had 16 to beat Purdue and a team high 26 to top West Virginia. Lavender holds it all together for Xavier and that was best seen in the last game against WVU, where late in the game and OT he hit his first few field goals of the game; this guy is clutch. But this is third straight elite 8 for UCLA, so the edge in experience goes to them. The Bruins have been near the top all year long and know what they have to do to get the job done. The difference in this game is the bench. UCLA has some serious threats that could come out of nowhere. I like UCLA to advance in this one in yet another close game. But with the close games recently, I wouldn’t be completely shocked if Xavier pulled the upset.

East Regional Final - (1)   v  (3) - 9:05p, Charlotte

Talk about popular picks, the Tar Heels were almost a consensus to be playing in San Antonio way back in the pre-season. Like UCLA, the Heels played at or near the top of the rankings all year long and ended as the number 1 team in the land. They have Tyler Hansbrough down low who along with Michael Beasley of Kansas State, are the 2 top players in the country. Now, unlike UCLA, the Heels have not had a hard time in the tournament so far; they’ve breezed by their opponents. Here’s some scores for you: 113-74, 108-77, 68-47. Those are the final scores of the 3 games North Carolina has won so far. That’s a combined margin of 91 points, and that…is pretty damn impressive. They blasted the 16 seed and then Indiana, but the most impressive win was that 68-47 blowout over Washington State. The Cougars are a stout defensive team and were a 4 seed for a reason, but UNC picked them apart. Talk about deep: Hansbrough, Elington, Ginyard, Lawson, Green…and so on, and so on.

On the Cardinals team things are run a bit differently sometimes. The big man, David Padgett, basically plays the point. He’s just as impressive calling out the plays (hey, look at the results) as he is down low; he is certainly the complete package. But can he keep up with Hansbrough? The Cardinals had 4 players average double figures in points and they’ve had balanced scoring outside and inside so far in their 3 games in the tournament as well. They’ve had little contribution the last game from Sosa and it didn’t seem to matter. They can run (beat Tennessee) and they can play half court. They press like crazy which can be very hard to figure out; after all they have a championship winning coach organizing the trap.

So, how does this game play out? Well, don’t expect the 100+ game from the Tar Heels again. But don’t expect Louisville to score from so many places on the floor again. This game is going to feature good guard play and 3 point shooting is going to be critical. But the key is inside: Hansbrough or Padgett. Can Padgett keep up with the more athletic and versatile player? Will Caracter shifting over to double Hansbrough bring about more problems? My guess is yes, and even with 2 men on him, he can still score. I like North Carolina to move on here when they build an 8-10 point lead in the 1st half and trade baskets for much of the rest of the game.

Tomorrow, breakdown of the Sunday games. Enjoy!

First off, I just want to assure you this isn’t a Mike Huckabee article; don’t let the title confuse you.

No, this is something nobody expected. This is something over 5 months in the making. This is something that nobody believed in. This is about the Philadelphia 76ers. You know, that basketball team over in the lowly east with all the young players? No? Thaddeus Young, ring a bell? It’s not a surprise the Sixers are over .500, yet nobody believed in them. That is, nobody except themselves. A slow start and the lack of a household name superstar led to poor attendance all year long. Think the Sixers cared? All they did was take it one..game..at a time. Call it cliche, but if you haven’t been watching, this team of youngsters have matured immensely before our very eyes from November until now. The seats are starting to fill in at the Wachovia Center, the city is starting to talk Eagles, Phillies, Flyers…..and Sixers. Suddenly, this team is becoming a story. If you’re just jumping on the bandwagon, let me catch you up on the past 5 months of this under the radar success story. It all starts with a match up against the Boston Celtics…

The date was December 5th, and the Sixers were 5-12. The little rooting interest fans had in this team was quickly evaporating, and the team was coming off back to back losses against Atlanta and New Jersey; not exactly powerhouse opponents. So, all they had to do was beat the NBA best Boston Celtics. Needless to say, it didn’t happen, and the Sixers fell to 5-13 with a 113-103 loss. It was time to look in the mirror. The players on this team know what their environment is, the East is wide open for the taking, but they weren’t grabbing any chance opportunities given to them. Home games, “easy” opposition, it didn’t matter: they couldn’t piece together good wins a row. It looked like yet another season down the drain. This was yet another year of looking forward to off-season moves and the draft.

The Sixers knew that these were the worst of times, they needed a change. On December 5, the day they fell to Boston (and further in the standings), they made a move. Billy King, Sixers GM since the late 90’s was out. In was Philly native Ed Stefanski, formerly with the Nets. As December carried on however, they would win a game here, lose a game there. Win one here, lose a few in a row there. Then on December 29th, they traded their only 3-point threat, Kyle Korver, to the Jazz for a 1st round pick and Gordon Giricek (and his expiring contract). Most fans took that as another sign of rebuilding; shape this team for next year, and the year after that.

So things were naturally going to bottom out. The attendance was ranking 29th of 30 teams. Their long range shot was gone (even though it wasn’t truly there to begin with). The team was Andre Miller and a bunch of kids. It looked like it could get pretty ugly, and it did. In January the Sixers went a paltry 4-11, including a 7 game losing streak. The Sixers were a forgotten team in Philadelphia, and in the NBA landscape. They went as far down as 13th in the East. But while they were losing, they were getting better. It sounds funny, indeed, but take a look at this team:

Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Rodney Carney, Jason Smith had a combined 2 years experience among the 4 of them. A fringe player in Reggie Evans was starting. Andre Iguodala, who had just turned 24 years old, was a team leader.

This was no easy task to make these guys mesh. But somehow, someway, Mo Cheeks did it, and these players did it. They found their game. Not trying to play outside of their ability, but each man coming up big in their specialty. They started to know where each other would be every play down the court. They started to perfect the fast break. Things were getting better.

In February the Sixers went 8-5, including a 5 game win streak at home. One of those wins was against western conference power, Dallas. Not impressed? Try March, where the Sixers are currently a scorching 10-2 including wins against Phoenix, Detroit, San Antonio, Denver, and last night, Boston. There was also a win against Chicago on the road where the Sixers were as many as 18 down in the 4th quarter but rallied to win. This team of young guys had found their stride. They were hitting on all cylinders.

How are they doing it? Look no further than the only veteran on the team, Andre Miller. Sure, his numbers are outstanding: 17.1 ppg, 6.7 apg, but they don’t tell the whole story. The numbers don’t show how his play has taught Lou Williams to handle the point. The numbers don’t show necessary baskets at absolutely critical junctures in games, outstanding leadership on and off the court, and a steady force on both ends of the floor.

What about Dalembert? He’s averaging a double double on the season, 11 and 10. He’s defending better, blocking shots, he’s knocking down that 16 foot jump shot with more ease. And what of the young guys? You just can’t say enough about Thaddeus Young. His energy on the floor is second to none. He is already an outstanding defender and has a very high basketball IQ. Offensively he is starting to find his touch too, which is truly an added bonus. If Thaddeus can start perfecting his short range jumper, he will effortlessly become an all-star.

So, after all that, the Sixers are 36-35, good for 6th in the east. If it doesn’t sound impressive to you then you’re not watching closely enough. This team has battled adversity all season long and fought every single minute of every game to get better. I said before the season started that this team was good enough to win 35 games, which baffled the people I told that to (who were projecting 23-27). They’ve already topped 35, and have 11 games left in the season. This team is going to win more than 40 games, and more than likely top .500 for the season with more than 41.

If you want to jump into the Sixers bandwagon, go ahead, more and more people are. I’ve been in the bandwagon all season long, and it’s been truly fantastic to watch. If you think this team is done, you’re wrong. If you think they can’t seriously contend in the playoffs against anyone each and every game, you’re wrong. But neither I nor the Sixers need to justify their play to anyone, they’ve been proving people wrong all season long and would be more than happy to do it some more.

photos from nbaobsessed.com and nba.com

In a junior hockey playoff game Saturday night, Patrick Roy’s son Jonathan tried to live up to the Roy family name in beating the bejesus out of his opponent. Pardon the French. Seriously…you might want to mute it. The announcer speaks French.

Here’s how dad used to do it.

Ever since their 10 game losing streak ended in mid-February the Flyers have been taking baby steps to becoming once again a dominant force in the Eastern Conference. Sunday night they took what is perhaps one of the few steps left to take. Their 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders was the first time in a long time that the Flyers had a complete team effort for 60 minutes.

The power play notched three of the four goals on the night including a 5-on-3 tally for Vinny Prospal who got a crisp pass right through the crease from his new designated line-mate Danny Briere. Briere had a goal and two assists in the effort, continuing his personal hot streak.  He has six points in his last three games. Not only did the league’s second best power play flex its muscles Sunday but it gave the fans and players added confidence to a facet of the game that hadn’t been so hot recently.

Perhaps the most astounding part of the victory was the play of goalie Marty Biron. The Arenavision screen showed the “save of the game” with ten minutes to go; a windmill glove save by Biron with a whole half of net to shoot at. Apparantly he wasn’t so thrilled with that save because about five minutes later Biron stuffed a Josef Vasicek offering between the blade on his left skate and the right post. Biron said in a post-game interview with WIP that the start gave him more confidence but also the play of his defense. He noted that the defensemen were making their reads on puck handlers quicker which allows him to react accordingly.

So what was the baby step that the Flyers took since their shootout victory over the Rangers on Friday? They finished. It became routine for the Flyers to blow late leads, let weak goals in with under two minutes to go in a period, skate hard for two and a half periods; but to their credit the Flyers played a full 60 minutes tonight. The defense was pretty good although a few whiffed shots for the Islanders added to how good the D appeared. Shots were blocked and -what was missing for so long-, the man without the puck was picked up.  Hell, the Flyers even broke out of their own zone with ease; another thing that gave them difficulty as of late.

If the Flyers could keep that level of play up in their six remaining games (two of which against the Devils who have given the orange and black fits this year) not only will they make the playoffs, not only will they have a reasonable seed, they will be a force to be reckoned with come April and May.

Remaining Schedule:

@ Tuesday March 25 7:30 pm
@ Friday March 28 7:00 pm
@        Saturday March 29 7:00 pm
@ Wednesday April 2 7:30 pm
vs. Friday April 4 7:00 pm
vs.Sunday April 6 3:00 pm

Photos courtesy flyers.nhl.com 

The 2 seed in the midwest region Georgetown Hoyas have been defeated at the hands of the 10 seed Davidson Wildcats.

The Hoyas had a 38-27 lead at the half despite big man Roy Hibbert only playing around 5 minutes due to 2 early personal fouls. In the 2nd half, Davidson fell down as many as 17 but this mid major was not done. The Wildcats, led by superstar Stephen Curry, rallied and eventually won the game 74-70 to pull the giant upset. Curry hit 4 clutch free throws down the stretch and finished with 30 points, he had 40 in the first round game against Gonzaga. The Wildcats have won an NCAA leading 24 games in a row. Davidson will play Wisconsin in the Sweet 16.

In other action the Tennessee Volunteers took on the Butler Bulldogs for a chance to play the winner of tonight’s Oklahoma/Louisville game. The Vols opened the game on fire, taking an early 12-2 lead. But the 29 win Bulldogs wouldn’t go away that quickly. They battled back and made the Vols lead just 4 at halftime. The teams went back and forth the entire 2nd half. Butler grabbed their first lead with less than 2 minutes to go, only to be tied again by Tennessee. Butler had the chance to win the game at the buzzer but an overtime was needed. After the 5 minutes, Bruce Pearl’s club survived yet again to advance. Smith and Chism each put in 15.

Another 2 seed, Texas, survived Miami (FL) to advance to Houston to play a virtual home game in the sweet 16 against Stanford. It’s been quite a wild weekend for 2 seeds. Duke lost to West Virginia, Georgetown lost to Davidson, Tennessee and Texas squeaked by.

March Madness!

The best time of the year for college basketball got underway today as 64 teams began their quest to cut the nets down in San Antonio. All a team has to do is win 6 games in a row to be the champion. That’s not so hard is it? (kidding) The last few years March Madness has been exactly that - pure madness. There was upset after upset, hell, George Mason went to the final four. Day 1 this year, which started with Xavier v Georgia and ended with UCLA v Mississippi Valley State, was pretty uneventful when compared to years past. A 9 seed beat an 8 seed which isn’t much of an upset and an 11 beat a 6 for the only real “shock” of the day. The rest of the higher seeds won. Here’s a quick breakdown of how everybody looked:

Blowouts/Laughers:

(1) Kansas defeats (16) Portland St, 85-61. - No 16 seed has ever defeated a 1 seed and Kansas never showed Portland State, who was making their first NCAA appearance, any light of hope to catch up in this game. Jayhawks early and often.

( UNLV defeats (9) Kent St, 71-58. - Don’t be deceived by the 13 point difference in the final score, this game was over before halftime. Kent State managed just 10 points in the 1st half, tying an NCAA record for futility on offense in a half.

(4) Pittsburgh defeats (13) Oral Roberts, 82-63. - Much like Kansas did, the Panthers never gave Oral Roberts anything to build on. The lead got big and they padded it all game long. Huge game from Fields.

(3) Stanford defeats (14) Cornell, 77-53. - The Lopez brothers each contributed nicely, but it was the play of Kenny Brown (18 points in 24 minutes) that pushed the Cardinal over the Ivy League champs. Never a close one.

(4) Washington St defeats (14) Winthrop, 71-40. - Some people had questions about the Cougars coming into the tournament, and Winthrop upended a high seed last year. I think the Cougs are doing fine, solid all around performance.

(5) Notre Dame defeats (12) George Mason, 68-50. - Well, this year’s George Mason..won’t be George Mason. Harangody and co. proved way too much to handle in both halfs for the colonial league champs.

(1) UCLA defeats (16) Mississippi Valley St, 70-29. - The Bruins had a mild scrimmage today in Anaheim. Seriously though, 29 points? This team is scary good.

Never That Close:

(5) Michigan St defeats (12) Temple, 72-61. - The Owls and Spartans each shot horribly in the 1st half, but the Spartans found their shot in the 2nd half while Temple struggled to make short comeback attempts that fell short each time.

(6) Purdue defeats (11) Baylor, 90-79. - The Boiler Makers owned the first half and went into half with a 19 point lead. But Baylor, behind 27 from Jerrells, kept it respectable in the 2nd. The Bears couldn’t get over the hump.

Good Games:

(3) Xavier defeats (14) Georgia, 73-61. - The first game of the day looked like it was going to start the tourney off with a shocker. The SEC champs led by 9 at half and for some of the 2nd before Xavier furiously stormed back to tie it and finally pull away with the win.

(11) Kansas St defeats (6) USC, 80-67. - Michael Beasley did not disappoint in his first NCAA game ending up with 23 and 11. The Wildcats opened up a 10 point margin going into half but the Trojans played them closer in the 2nd, pulling to as close as 2 points, but Kansas State weathered the storm and won the game.

(7) West Virginia defeats (10) Arizona, 75-65. - Everyone heard the talk: Joe Alexander and West Virginia are a sleeper ready for a big run and Arizona doesn’t deserve to be dancing. Well, the Wildcats gave Huggins and co. all they had, keeping the game within arms reach for most of the 40 minutes. The Mountaineers were able to pull away late with clutch shooting.

(9) Texas A&M defeats ( BYU, 67-62. - The Aggies shot 54 percent from the field in the game, but BYU was tied at half, and stayed with A&M all game long. BYU made baskets at the end, but they traded baskets with the Aggies which resulted in their first round exit.

(3) Wisconsin defeats (14) Cal State Fullerton, 71-56. - Looking at the final score you would think Wisconsin pretty much handled this game the whole way: not the case. The Badgers were up by a mere 2 points at half and this game was a dog fight until the Big 10 champs really locked down with under 10 minutes left and sealed the win.

Great Games/Thrillers:

(6) Marquette defeats (11) Kentucky, 74-66. - This was hands down the best game of the day. The Marquette lead was 4 at half after the teams traded shots all half long. That trend continued as Kentucky got a huge game from Joe Crawford who poured in 35 points. But his effort fell short as Marquette was able to answer Kentucky each time down the floor. The Golden Eagles scored the last 6 points of the game.

(2) Duke defeats (15) Belmont, 71-70. - The mega upset that just got away. Hats off to the Belmont Bruins who played 40 great minutes of basketball. A 7-point Blue Devils lead at the half was erased in the 2nd half and this came literally came down to the final seconds. Down 1, Gerald Henderson went end-to-end and made a lay-up that lifted Duke past Belmont and spared them a huge embarrassment.

Whew! That’s just day 1 people. Tomorrow: how about 16 more games? Sounds good to me.

As I write this article the best playoff in sports, the field of 64 NCAA tournament, is about 12 hours away from getting underway. There is no doubt that the first 4 days are the most exciting. Two rounds, 48 games, to whittle down the field to just 16 come Sunday night. Who’s going to be this year’s George Mason? Which 1 seed is most vulnerable? Toughest region? How will the 3 Philly teams fare? All these questions and more are touched on in a call to our friend and fellow Philly blogger Jameson over at Cuseadelphia.

Click here to listen to the conversation.

We thank Jameson for taking the time to have this conversation with us, and we’ll be back with another Temple to Syracuse NCAA call once the weekend is over.

Don’t forget to check out Jameson’s articles over at his site, Cuseadelphia

Enjoy the madness!