Category Archives: Blog & Guest Posts

Basketball Break

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I probably won’t stick with this — I certainly won’t if UCSB or Houston pull, or come close to pulling, the upsets — but, for now, I think I’m going to take a break from tweeting the games and just watch/relax. And, in the spirit of Andrew Sullivan’s “Mental Health Breaks,” I offer the following “Basketball Break,” courtesy of Roger… Read more »

GO ZAGS!!!

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Now underway, with Gus Johnson announcing! Live coverage via my Twitter list:

Bracket busted? Redeem yourself in my 13th annual women’s pool!

After 1 1/4 crazy days of basketball, your bracket is probably busted. Yeah, so is just about everyone else’s. But I have two pieces of good news. First of all, busted brackets are what make the Tournament great, so stop complaining. (Yeah, easy for me to say.) Second of all, you have a chance at redemption: Enter the women’s pool!… Read more »

Battle Hymn of the Underdog

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My Cinderella anthem, recycled for another year, with a couple of new teams added to the roster. More appropriate than ever this year: Mine eyes have seen the glory of a bracket freshly made And prognosticators certain that the seeds will be obeyed But like clockwork, underdogs emerge and favorites are waylaid The Madness marches on! Glory, glory, Cinderella! Glory,… Read more »

Thank you, Murray State

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Because it’s worth another look (or ten), here again is the greatest shot on “one of the greatest days in the history of the NCAA Tournament.” What makes that shot so great? First of all, as I mentioned yesterday, it was a true buzzer-beater, leaving the player’s hands before 0:00 and swishing through the hoop after 0:00. No time left… Read more »

Murray State’s One Shining Moment

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Haven’t seen one this good in a while: So often, in recent years, it seems like the closest we get to NCAA “buzzer beaters” are shots that come in the final few seconds, but the clock stops to set up a game-ending anticlimax. Even Northwestern State’s memorable shot to beat Iowa was like that. And too often, literal “buzzer beaters”… Read more »

Pool picks are up

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We’ve got 183 contestants. Most popular champion picks: Kansas (83), Kentucky (25), Syracuse (22), Duke (12), West Virginia (8), Villanova (5). Most popular first-round upset picks by an 11+ seed: Siena (62) and Cornell (58). Most popular double-digit Sweet 16 Cinderella picks: Utah State (23), UTEP (22), Cornell (19). Most popular Final Four picks below the #2-seed line: Baylor (25),… Read more »