Jonny Flynn is MOCKED!

In a good way.

Now that the NBA Draft Lottery is over, we can finally start speculating where J-Flynn is going to land. And by we, I mean other websites. I'm going to sort these by destination:

10th - Milwaukee Bucks
Inside Hoops
Walter Football
My NBA Draft
- Sounds like a hell of a boring team to root for. Hopefully that is not where he lands.

13th - Indiana Pacers
Chad Ford, ESPN
Draft Express
NBA Draft Guru
College Hoops Net
- Don't really care for them either. Can't the Nuggets trade up or something?

14th - Phoenix Suns
NBADraft.net
Sports Illustrated
- I could deal with this. Perhaps Shaq can get him on twitter.

17th - Philadelphia 76ers
The Hoops Report
- He's out of the lottery in this one...but I'd be totally fine with rooting for the Sixers.

18th - Minnesota Timberwolves
Draft Empire
- Only acceptable if Bill Simmons is hired as GM.

Well said, guy on the left.

Photo: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette

OMG! BRETT FAVRE!!!!!1

Dear Brett Favre,

Please just fucking go away. Nobody likes you anymore. You are no longer skilled at playing football.

Sincerely,

Everybody

Ten Predictions for the 2009 NFL Draft.

1. Exactly 32 players will be selected in the first round.
2. The draft will last for seven rounds.
3. It will take entirely too long.
4. New York Jets fans will be displeased with the results.
5. The draft will be televised.
6. And it will be held in New York City.
7. Players will be drafted based on 40-yard dash times and bench presses, rather than football ability.
8. Numerous players will display tremendous upside.
   
9. Grown men will judge college-aged mens' bodies in sexually suggestive ways.
10. Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay will either come to fisticuffs, make out, or go about their days in a professional, respectful manor.

"His mind must be blown easily."

Tim Graham, a genius with words:

My favorite part of the [Eagles' introductory] news conference was when Peters said, "It blew my mind, first and foremost, for them to trade me."

Really? His mind must be blown easily. Peters boycotted every offseason and preseason workout last year. He missed the conditioning program. He skipped voluntary workouts. He didn't show for mandatory minicamp. He didn't report to training camp and missed every preseason game.

Other interesting notes from the linked article above: the Bills thought Peters would have held out until week 10 (the maximum amount of time a player can hold out before losing out on the entire season in terms of salary/benefits/etc) and that Peters admitted the contract issue affected his play last season.

Continue on, Mr. Graham.

Sacks allowed isn't an official stat, but a figure floating around said he surrendered double-digit sacks last year.

"That's the first time I've heard that stat," Peters replied when it was presented to him Sunday. "I don't recall giving up that many. If they charged me with that many, so what? I'm an Eagle now.

"If I give up 11 and a half sacks, I'm only human. I'm going to give you 100 percent on every play."

Peters is only human, but a human who's getting paid $25 million guaranteed not to give up sacks.

He's been gone nearly 3 days, and I already don't miss the guy.

BREAKING NEWS: Jason Peters Traded to Eagles

Peters getting manhandled by yet another defensive end.

According to ESPN's resident Eagles apologist Sal Paolantonio and ESPN AFC East blogger Tim Graham, the Bills have traded Jason Peters to the Eagles.

The details:

For Peters, the Bills will receive a first-round pick (the 28th selection in the round), a fourth-rounder in next weekend's draft and an undisclosed pick in 2010, according to a source.

Peters has been asked to fly to Philadelphia on Friday to meet with the Eagles, who have 12 draft choices including two first-round selections. Any trade would be contingent on Peters passing a physical, but it might also require Peters to agree to a contract extension.

Well sirs and feathered creatures, good luck getting that contract extension worked out.

For more than a year, Peters has been in a contract stalemate with the Bills. He's made two Pro Bowls at left tackle and wants to become one of the highest-paid players at his position -- at an annual salary of possibly more than $11 million.

The amazing part in all of this is that Peters is still demanding to be paid as one of the top left tackles in the game, all because offensive lineman make the Pro Bowl completely based on reputation. He was actually worthy of a Pro Bowl selection in 2007, but Peters appeared completely befuddled at times playing LT last season, so the fact that he went to the Pro Bowl was a total shock to most Bills fans.

Peters early career progression was a nice story, transforming from an undrafted tight end into a top left tackle, but this trade was the best thing that could have happened for the Bills in this situation. It would have been nice to keep him at his current salary, or perhaps a small raise, but to pay him over $11 million per after last season's performance? Good riddance.

NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE!

Jonny's testing the waters, Jonny's signing with an agent, Jonny might be ... staying?

Sure, if you believe the Associated Press. This went across the wire about 15 minutes ago:

CHICAGO (AP) — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim says Big East tournament MVP Jonny Flynn might not be headed to the NBA along with teammates Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris.

Boeheim said Flynn's status is "kind of up in the air."

Last week the school announced that all three players planned to make themselves eligible for the draft.

The coach said Devendorf and Harris are virtual locks to leave, but Flynn might still opt to come back to school.

Flynnled the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game and set an Orange record by playing 1,418 minutes in his sophomore year. After two seasons, he ranks seventh in career assists (439) at Syracuse.

He indicated he will not hire an agent, giving him the option to return to school.

Moral of the story: Nothing is real until April 26 rolls around, or signed agent papers are in my hands (or the hands of someone more important).

Roger Clemens: Admitted Steroid User!

Google Chat is Glorious.

Poetry in Moten and I had a g-chat conversation today in which we mostly discussed Flynn/Devendorf/Harris all declaring for the draft. Other minor things are in the conversation, such as slow sandwich delivery (my end of the conversation took place in a coffee shop) and Tyler Hansbrough, but for the most part it is 'Cuse-centric.

Note that the convo has been heavily edited for grammar, spelling, and over the top cursing to make it easier on the reader's eyes. We do not actually talk to each other on g-chat as if there is an English teacher watching us.

Moten: thbbbbbbbbbbbbt. Flynn, Devo, Harris. All declared.
K-Gun: Oucharoo. That's no good
Moten: In theory, they can all still come back.
K-Gun: It would be awesome if they all did.
Moten: I’m sure none of them will.
K-Gun: But I still think they are national title contenders if only Flynn returns… How many years are we getting Wes Johnson for?
Moten: two
K-Gun: At least we can have a year of him/Waiters.
Moten: In theory, unless Wes leaves after next year.
K-Gun: thbbbt. I don't see why he would waste a year of his life not playing, just to spend a single year with his new team. But I suppose it is possible.
Moten: I mean, if he scores like 20 points a game next year and people say he's a lottery pick, then I doubt he'd care about sitting out that year.
K-Gun: true
Moten: For whatever reason, I'm most confident that Flynn will come back.
K-Gun: Yeah…with the whole "playing at Syracuse was always the dream" and seemingly declaring because Boeheim suggested doing it…
Moten: Though Harris said the same thing….and after the season, Devendorf was the only person who clearly said he would be back.
K-Gun: If i were in Harris or Devo's position, I think I would leave school to make money (if I had a child). Also, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to have a kid at age 20.
Moten: But also, they both seem to be getting by just fine now, so what's another year?
K-Gun: yeah
Moten: Bunch of [losers]. JUST COME BACK AND PLAY MORE BASKETBALL, YOU [JERKS]!
K-Gun: PLAYING IN SYRACUSE, NY > PLAYING IN SHITVILLE, STUPID RANDOM COUNTRY, EUROPE
Moten: Clearly…Shitville is horrible.
K-Gun: Hate Shitville.
Moten: Oh well.
K-Gun: But if they offered me a professional basketball contract I'd go.
Moten: until they hire an agent, declaring means literally nothing.
K-Gun: I DECLARE FOR THE DRAFT
Moten: hahaha…Someone in my office was saying Scoop should declare, just as a joke.
K-Gun: Boeheim should declare.
Moten: What if the whole team declared, just so they could go to NBA workouts.
K-Gun: Hilarious. What could potentially suck, is that Flynn going to NB workouts might improve his stock, because nobody is actually as good as him, a lot of people just don't necessarily realize it yet.
Moten: Possible
K-Gun: Perhaps the Knicks should tell him they will draft him to scare him into staying.
Moten: Can you imagine a world where Flynn comes back and HARRIS is in the draft?
K-Gun: HARRIS was supposed to be one and done.
Moten: It makes no sense…I kind of feel like Harris would stay if Flynn was staying.
K-Gun: I have to imagine it would sway him.
Moten: Yeah. Also, if I could only have two of them come back, I would select Flynn and Devendorf. Wes Johnson is a taller, better version of Harris.
K-Gun: yeah
Moten: But, i also enjoy Paul Harris the person, and his throwing of things into the crowd…and doing ridiculous dunks.
K-Gun: I want them all back, so they can run out lines of substitutions like Louisville.
Moten: yah
K-Gun: I can't wait till this place brings out my sandwich. I didn't realize making a tuna sandwich with cheddar melted on it took so long.
K-Gun: Is syracuse's incoming recruiting class really 5th in the nation or whatever it is rumored to be on some other blogs?
Moten: Who knows. I haven't actually seen that anywhere.
K-Gun: I thought this year was relatively down, but was going to be okay because of everyone staying, leading into Dion Waiters coming and miraculously choosing to wear #25.
Moten: haha

(Quick tangent: During the 01-02 season, I went into a sports apparel store and decided to purchase a Syracuse basketball jersey. My options were #3 - Preston Shumpert - and #25 - Damone Brown. I went with 25. I had a 50/50 chance of making an awesome life decision and I failed epically.)

Moten: If all three leave, Brandon Triche better be fucking awesome…and/or scoop better be a lot better, because Rautins certainly isn't playing the point.
Moten:rivals.com doesn't even have Syracuse in the top 25 for next year's class.
K-Gun: Figured…I was sure i had remembered this year not being as good.
Moten: 8th in 2010
K-Gun: There are only so many scholarships to be offered, so you can't be awesome every year in that department.
Moten: They're not ranked on scout.com either.
K-Gun: "Interestingly, Flynn is the only one of these three who is in Chad Ford’s Top 100 although he has Harris listed as being “late first to early second” despite being ranked #103." (Rush the Court)…hilarious. Chad Ford is a fool.
Moten: Chad Ford has about 70 players every year who are projected first round picks.
K-Gun: No wonder so many stupid players unnecessarily go pro.
Moten: I’m sure there are players ahead of Harris who are "undrafted.”
K-Gun: I was listening to ESPN Radio recently, and the guy was discussing the difference between Hansbrough choosing to stay or not last year and Blake Griffin making that decision this year…saying at UNC, you know you will have the talent to make a run at a title, where playing at Oklahoma is a toss up. The whole time I was thinking "also, Blake Griffin is going to be great in the NBA and Hansbrough is going to be mediocre, and he knows it."
Moten: Right. Everyone is afraid to say anything remotely negative about Hansbrough.
K-Gun: Something else to consider: with the state of the NCAA, and good players going pro early all the time…Hansbrough could actually get by on determination because he is more physically mature than most good players, due to being 3 years older than all of them.
Moten: Right, he's going to be eaten alive next year.
K-Gun: It’s going to be awesome.
Moten: I almost feel bad for him, because you know the world will either forget about him, or rip into him.
K-Gun: Hopefully the Knicks draft him, so if I am still in NYC for some reason I can see it happen first hand.
Moten: You will see nothing, other than a man on the end of a bench.
K-Gun: In most cities he will disappear into the shadows when he sucks. If he gets drafted by the Knicks, he will be reminded of how bad he is in the NBA constantly. Moten: Right…I forgot that New York City is the greatest place of all time, and all other areas of the world suck.
K-Gun: I did not say that. I said New York sports fans are stupid.
Moten: haha
K-Gun: There are already people saying CC and Teixeira are busts, and there is no way they will get by in New York. The season is TWO GAMES old.
Moten: People are stupid
K-Gun: The other big Syracuse fan I work with isn't as distraught over the idea of losing Flynn, because he is also a Knicks fan, and thinks Flynn is exactly what they need. I mean, that would mean the Knicks would have to select him for him leaving to be okay, but still.
Moten: Right, he has a 1 in 30 chance of still thinking Flynn leaving is a good idea in a few months. Also, don't the Knicks already have Jonny Flynn? Nate Robinson?
K-Gun: Nate isn't a PG. Chris Duhon is their attempt at a point guard.
Moten: Close enough on Nate…small dude…fancy dribbles…makes shots.
K-Gun: yah

(conversation abruptly ends.)

Everybody Loves Flutie Flakes.

Got home from work today and decided to take in a couple episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond before continuing on with my evening. I know, I know, it's not the greatest show of all time, but it's there, so I watch it.

So imagine my surprise when I looked above the refrigerator during a scene when Ray and his wife and/or mother were arguing about some trivial matter and saw this:


As a past fan of this tasty breakfast treat, let me salute Ray and his family for their excellent taste in cereal. They should really bring this back. (The cereal, not the show).

The NCAA Tournament is Expanding to 4,096!

The thought of Georgetown getting upset by Ithaca College is hilarious to me.



(I love The Onion.)

With the 11th Pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select...

...some college player to be named later.

As of this moment, the following players are being picked around the world in mock drafts (with a few selected comments, if comments were available):

Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State
- Sports Fantasy Guide: With WR’s Terrell Owens and Lee Evans on the outside he will work well in the middle of the defense. He also is a very good pass blocking TE which helps the Bills running attack.

Everette Brown, DE, Florida State
- WalterFootball: One team that was thrilled to see Aaron Maybin light it up at Penn State's Pro Day was Buffalo. With Maybin likely to enter the top 10, the likelihood of one of the top defensive ends dropping to No. 11 has risen tremendously.

Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee
- FFToolBox: Defensive end is another need and while Maybin and Everette Brown are not ideal 4-3 types, Ayers is and part of the reason why he is flying up draft boards.

Andre Smith, OT, Alabama
- Sports Agent Blog: ...playing in Buffalo, New York requires the ability to play smash mouth football and no other guy will maul people quite like big Andre will.

Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State
- FFToolbox (a different guy): Maybin constantly found himself in the backfield against some very tough offensive lines this season, because of his quick first step. He may also be able to play strong side linebacker with some work, which is another area of need for the Bills.

Evander Hood, DT, Missouri
- NFL Draft 101: Marcus Stroud made an impact on the D-Line but needs some support. Evander Hood will give both Stroud and Aaron Schobel more opportunities to make plays.

Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech
- East Coast Sports: ...the knock on him is his motor...

Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
- Mock Draft Gurus: He's really a big presence on the corner and his size doesn't slow him down. He will bring another dimension to the Bills D-line and create mismatches that will open up some space for other defenders.

Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas
Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC
Michael Oher, OT, Mississippi
- These three were not lucky enough to receive comments any time anyone had the Bills picking them.

That's 6 DE's, 2 OT's, LB, DT, and TE, at least according to the 25 or so mock drafts I skimmed through.

The guy I'm personally most enamored with is Brian Orakpo, probably because of this profile done by ESPN. Whether it's Orakpo or someone else (probably someone else since Orakpo isn't going to fall to the 11th pick), the Bills should definitely be looking Defensive End in the first round of the draft three weeks from now. They took Chris Ellis in the third round last year, but I don't think he is ever expected to be a game changer. Put a guy out there that will put fear in the QB, and the whole defense improves. Aaron Schobel is fine, but I can't imagine Chris Kelsay or Ryan Denney is putting any fear in the hearts of quarterbacks/offensive coordinators/anyone in the world.

I suppose I could deal with tight end - Pettigrew is a popular pick for the Bills among mock drafters - given the recent history of Tight Ends with the hands of Arinze Onuaku running around out there. Seeing a tight end capable of coming down with a pass AND not fumbling upon making the catch would be a nice treat. However, I think with the Bills as they currently stand (deep at WR, backs who can catch the ball), a receiving tight end would just be a nice addition, while a stud defensive end could be a bigger difference maker early on.

Whatever direction the Bills go, I will most likely be on here talking myself into agreeing with the pick since I'm a total homer, so I guess worrying too much about it now is pretty pointless. It's still fun to see/guess/wonder who might be picked on April 25th anyway.

Devendorf officially kinda sorta pretty much definitely coming back next year.

Or so says his father, Curt. Mike Waters, what do you have for us?!

"Eric loves Syracuse,'' Curt Devendorf said. "We've talked, but he doesn't plan on leaving. As of right now, he plans on coming back next year.''

"Syracuse is very important to Eric,'' his father said. "He's getting good grades. We enjoy coming to the games. Right now, he's going to be back.''

Well, as long as you're enjoying them, Curt. That's all that matters.

In theory, this is fantastic news. Devendorf is a great player, and next year he could provide something this team has sorely lacked the past two years - a senior leader. Sorry, Kristof doesn't count here. But seriously, what's the deal with this "as of right now" garbage? Make up your minds! I'm not sure what it would take at this point to swing Devendorf in the other direction, but of the Big 3, he's clearly the frontrunner for the Most Likely To Return superlative.

There's also this:

Several sources close to the SU basketball program have indicated that Flynn plans on returning for his junior year. Flynn will enter his name in the NBA draft to gauge his draft status, but he would have to be a top 10 pick; or lottery pick at worst, to convince him to remain in the draft.

Sounds promising. I'll take it. Anything else?

Attempts to reach Harris have been unsuccessful.

Oh.

Let's Play Ball! (in three days!)

Because baseball is awesome, and because before the season is the only time I can possibly be excited about it, here's a little something to get yourself pumped for the upcoming season:



And here's a version for 2009, which is decidedly less awesome, but decidedly more like the old Windows 95 maze screensaver:



On second thought, the 2009 version is depressing. I can't believe some of those guys are actually going to be counted on to do actual baseball-related things this year.

Take a hike, Andrew Robinson.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Two years ago, Andrew Robinson was the starting quarterback for the Syracuse University football team. Last year, he lost the starting gig to Cameron Dantley. And Monday morning, Robinson was sent packing from quarterback camp, as Orange Head Coach Doug Marrone decided Robinson would best serve the team as a tight end.

A rough start to the week, for sure. But Robinson was just getting started.

Monday afternoon, Marrone announced that Robinson would also be moved into a freshman dormitory, where he'll live with two exchange students with poor hygiene, lose all dining hall privileges, and have his girlfriend, clothing, and all other material possessions - including his Nintendo Wii - transferred to redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib, Syracuse's new starting quarterback.

"We feel that this is how Andrew will best help the program," Marrone said. "All told, he took the adversity in stride. I thought he'd be a little pissed. I mean, his girlfriend was hot."

Robinson will also handle Nassib's day-to-day duties, including attending class, taking notes, and completing all required coursework. The senior, however, is excited about the opportunity to excel at the tight end position.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help the team win," a clearly exhausted, flustered, and famished Robinson said.

Marrone, meanwhile, was singing a slightly different tune.

"I'll be honest, Andrew doesn't have a shot in hell of seeing the field as a tight end," he said. "I basically threw him over there so he'd get out of my way and stop whining. He's got a lot of determination, hustle, and want-to, but not much in the way of, you know, football ability.

"The last thing we need here is another Robinson in charge of anything," Marrone added. "Well, except for Ryan's general needs and desires. Andrew is responsible for all of that."

Upset City!

I suppose they are not really major upsets when its 2 and 3 seeds getting wins, but still.

Missouri over Connecticut
- I predicted this in my brackets before the tournament even started...can't turn back now.

Villanova over Pittsburgh
- It seems like Pitt is due to play a full game. Messing around and sucking for the first 35 minutes won't work against 'Nova...this is me predicting that's what happens.

Louisville over Michigan State
- I can't bring myself to pick this 1 seed to go down.

Oklahoma over UNC
- Suck it, Hansbrough.

Jim Boeheim may or may not think you're an idiot.

Fast forward to the 2:46 mark of this first clip, when an unidentified reporter asks Jonny Flynn about his status going forward.

Note: Based on previous questions in the video and my expensive voice recognition software, I believe the questioner is Steve Andress, of WAER in Syracuse. Steve also called a couple games on ESPNU this year and does work for Palestra.net.




Now, fast forward to 4:54 of this clip for Jim Boeheim's thoughts on this person.



Apologies for the ridiculous spacing in this post. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no way to remove it.

And for what it's worth, Jim's right.

Elite 8 Picks

Two days in one!

Connecticut over Missouri
- Sure, Missouri looked pretty good in beating Memphis. But the thing is, Memphis isn't very good.

Pittsburgh over Villanova
- Pitt will play like garbage for 35 minutes, then wake up just in time for Levance Fields to hit a rainbow 3-pointer for the win.

Louisville over Michigan State
- Make it three for the Big East.

Syracuse over ...

oh, right.

North Carolina over Oklahoma
- Just because.

'Cuse Gameday Notes

OKLAHOMA HISTORY

Syracuse leads the all time series with Oklahoma 2-1.

Syracuse's 2003 win over Oklahoma in the tournament was the only post-season game between the teams.

'Cuse has never played @ Oklahoma.

Game Results:
- 12/23/1948...Syracuse 55 Oklahoma 49 (Leading scorer: Ed Stickel.)
- 1/7/1984...Oklahoma 98 Syracuse 91 (Sooners led by Wayman Tisdale)
- 3/30/2003...Syracuse 63 Oklahoma 47 (duh.)

SWEET 16 HISTORY

Results accumulated with the help of OrangeHoops and, of course, Wikipedia.

Syracuse's all-time Sweet 16 record: 7-10

1957: def. Lafayette 75-71
1966: def. Davidson 94-78
1973: lost to Maryland 91-75
1975: def. North Carolina 78-76
1977: lost to Charlotte 81-59 (ouch)
1979: lost to Penn 84-76
1980: lost to Iowa 88-77
1984: lost to Virginia 63-55
1987: def. Florida 87-81
1989: def. Missouri 83-80
1990: lost to Minnesota 82-75
1994: lost to Missouri 98-88
1996: def. Georgia 83-81
1998: lost to Duke 80-67
2000: lost to Michigan State 75-58
2003: def. Auburn 79-78
2004: lost to Alabama 80-71

Oklahoma's all-time Sweet 16 record: 4-4

1979: lost to Indiana State 93-72
1985: def. Louisiana Tech 86-84
1987: lost to Iowa 93-91
1988: def. Louisville 108-98
1989: lost to Virginia 86-80
1999: lost to Michigan State 54-46
2002: def. Arizona 88-67
2003: def. Butler 65-54

Sweet Picks

IT'S CUSE DAY!

Louisville over Arizona
- Big East rules.

Syracuse over Oklahoma
- Screw Blake Griffin.

Kansas over Michigan State
- I have been an epic fail when it comes to disagreeing with Moten in this tournament. That changes today!

UNC over Gonzaga
- What fun would it be for Syracuse to get to the Final Four if they don't even get to beat North Carolina on the way? (It would be perfectly fine, but the Tar Heels are winning this game.)

Sweet 16, Day 2.

Current Standings:

Poetry in Moten: 44-8
K-Gun: 40-12

Louisville over Arizona
- Arizona is clearly more talented than your average 12-seed, but that's not going to cut it here. The Big East roll continues.

Syracuse over Oklahoma
- My brain is is torn over who will actually win this game, so I decided to let my heart do the picking.

Michigan State over Kansas
- My original bracket had Michigan State beating West Virginia in this game. To be honest, now that the opponent is Kansas, I'm tempted to pick against the Spartans, but I'm choosing to honor the original bracket.

North Carolina over Gonzaga
- Eventually, Gonzaga will have its Final Four run. I just don't think they can beat North Carolina.

More Picking!

It is going to be nearly impossible for me to come back, considering Moten and I are going to probably have agreeable picks for the rest of the tournament.

UConn over Purdue
- Connecticut has probably been the second most impressive team in the entire tournament. (Syracuse has clearly been the most impressive.)

Pitt over Xavier
- It boggles my mind that Pittsburgh has NEVER defeated a team seeded 6th or higher in the NCAA tournament. Luckily for them they don't have to hear about that any more after today.

Missouri over Memphis
- Seems like Memphis' big Round 2 win made everyone forget that they nearly got upset by a FIFTEEN seed in Round 1. Goodbye, Memphis.

Villanova over Duke
- Let's reminisce over a January quote from Coach K: “It just seems that people always are talking about the Big East,” Krzyzewski said Friday. “I think it’s been more of a surface-level look at things instead of an in-depth look, and I think when you take an in-depth look, our league is the toughest league. I don’t think there’s any question about it." FAIL.

Sweet 16, Day 1: Predictions.

Records through two rounds:

Poetry in Moten: 40-8
K-Gun: 36-12

The picks:

Connecticut over Purdue
- Because UConn is playing as well as anybody right now (even if the Huskies aren't following all the rules).

Pittsburgh over Xavier
- Because it would be quite foolish of me to pick my National Champion to lose in the Sweet 16.

Missouri over Memphis
- Count me among the people who think Memphis is a tad overrated.

Villanova over Duke
- Easiest pick of the day.

THE Best Game of the Sweet 16

ESPN The Mag says the 'Cuse-Oklahoma game looks to be the best matchup of the third round of NCAA tournament games...

1. Syracuse vs. Oklahoma
Movie tagline ready: "The hottest team versus the best player!"

I like it.

CBS Sports Dot Com Preview

I really only pass this along because it is people talking about Friday Night's matchup with Oklahoma. It's actually not that good of a preview and Steve Lappas is one of the most annoying humans on Earth, which may be why he has been relegated to only doing things in the online world for CBS.

We're All Friends Here

The coaches are good friends. Even moreso, the excellent point guards on each team are apparently BFFs.

Syracuse's Jonny Flynn and Arizona State's James Harden had both just experienced an NCAA tournament victory for the first time, and the good friends wanted to celebrate with each other.

So off to South Beach they went Friday night, chowing down on chicken wings and french fries with a few teammates.

"It was just fun just to interact a little bit," Flynn said.

Hopefully Jonny put something in Harden's food.

"It's just a friendship," Harden said. "On the court, it's different. I'm sure he feels the same. He wants to win just as much as I do. Off the court, it's a friendship, but obviously on the court we both want to win."

"We're just friends." If I read this story in any other context I would be making jokes about this. However, I'm not going to make any suggestions like that about Jonny Flynn, so we'll just take it at face value.

As I said, the coaches get along too. So well, Sendek is making his best effort to being like Boeheim by playing zone too.

Both coaches swear by the zone: Boeheim is a master of the 2-3, and Sendek has adopted a 3-2 in recent seasons, with great success. They have a friendship that goes back years, with Boeheim saying he's known Sendek since the "days when he was living in his car up in Providence working 14 hours a day for some crazy coach," referring to longtime pal Rick Pitino.

(Not true says Sendek. He didn't even have a car when he started at Providence in 1985.)

Hopefully he's found himself a car by now.

But the key tie, of course, is that of Flynn and Harden, who met before their junior year of high school at a camp, exchanged numbers and have stayed tight since.

"Playing basketball you meet so many different people," Flynn said. "You create long-lasting relationships for the rest of your life."

Who do you think broke the ice and asked for the other's phone number first? Okay, okay, I said I wasn't going to go there with this.

Apparently we didn't realize how good Jonny Flynn and James Harden are, because Boeheim sees this matchup being very similar to a set of high profile NBA friends.

Boeheim drew a parallel from the Beijing Olympics, where LeBron James and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade became closer friends, which translated into even more heated matchups as opponents.

That likely will happen with Flynn and Harden on Sunday.

"I think LeBron knocked Dwyane on his butt one game this year," Boeheim said. "When they go out to play, if anything, they may play harder against each other because they want to win more."

Yes, I get it, he's not saying Flynn-Harden are as good as LeBron-Wade. That would mostly be because of James Harden though, Jonny Flynn is almost certainly as good as them.

I'm not a homer, I swear.

Day 4 Needs Predicting Too

"...finally we disagree on something. This probably means Purdue is going to win, because apparently my picks are the pick of death to these teams."

That was my comment about the Purdue-Washington game yesterday.

The only game I got wrong was that game.

Man I'm awesome. ::shakes head in shame::

I'm going to keep picking anyway though. I once again will be submitting picks for the out-of-town Poetry in Moten as well here.

Records thru 3 days...
Poetry in Moten 32-8
K-Gun 29-11

If you are betting on today's games and you somehow have decided to use us to help you decide, I would follow what Moten says.

Arizona State vs. Syracuse
K-Gun Pick: CUSE!
Moten Pick: CUSE!
- Can't pick against the greatest team in all the land!

Wisconsin vs. Xavier
K-Gun Pick: Xavier
Moten Pick: Xavier
- No faith in the cheeseheads from either of these guys.

Dayton vs. Kansas
K-Gun Pick: Kansas
Moten Pick: Kansas
- Both of us had West Virginia upsetting Kansas here. Obviously this would logically mean we both pick the team that beat West Virginia to lose here.

Cleveland State vs. Arizona
K-Gun Pick: Cleveland State
Moten Pick: Arizona
- Here's your kiss of death game. Bet all the money you have on the Wildcats.

Oklahoma State vs. Pittsburgh
K-Gun Pick: Pitt
Moten Pick: Pitt
- The Big East just keeps on rollin'.

Marquette vs. Missouri
K-Gun Pick: Mizzou
Moten Pick: Mizzou
- The Big East isn't rolling quite as much.

Southern California vs. Michigan State
K-Gun Pick: Michigan State
Moten Pick: Michigan State
- Would you believe in my bracket before the tournament I had BC upsetting Michigan State here? What was I thinking?

Siena vs. Louisville
K-Gun Pick: Louisville
Moten Pick: Louisville
- Uh, good luck Siena.

Day 3 Predictions

I'll be posting the predictions for both myself and Poetry in Moten for today.

Records thru 2 days:

Poetry in Moten 24-8
K-Gun 22-10

I had one of the worst days of picking of all time yesterday, it was a pretty horrible experience. Calling the Cleveland State over Wake Forest upset was pretty excellent, though. I think it was okay for Syracuse to lose to them now.

- UCLA v. Villanova
K-Gun Pick: 'Nova
Moten Pick: 'Nova
...I wonder how UCLA feels about playing on Villanova's home court for this game.

- Maryland v. Memphis
K-Gun Pick: Memphis
Moten Pick: Memphis
...and the ACC is down to 2. They've really proven how awesome their conference is with that 3-4 first round record.

- Texas A&M v. Connecticut
K-Gun Pick: UConn
Moten Pick: UConn
...the Big East rolls on!

- Purdue v. Washington
K-Gun Pick: Washington
Moten Pick: Purdue
...finally we disagree on something. This probably means Purdue is going to win, because apparently my picks are the pick of death to these teams.

- LSU v. North Carolina
K-Gun Pick: UNC
Moten Pick: UNC
...but it would be awesome if UNC lost to help clear Syracuse's path to the Final Four.

- Michigan v. Oklahoma
K-Gun Pick: OU
Moten Pick: OU
...see: LSU v. North Carolina; insert "OU" for "UNC"

- Western Kentucky v. Gonzaga
K-Gun Pick: Gonzaga
Moten Pick: Gonzaga
...I have nothing to say about this game.

- Texas v. Duke
K-Gun Pick: Duke
Moten Pick: Duke
...good thing there are only 8 games today, because I have no more commentary to make.

Your Pre-Game/Tournament Inspiration

This is the second half of a two-part YouTube series titled "Remembering Past Syracuse Glory in the NCAA Tournament."

I've watched this video hundreds of times, and I still get chills every time.

NCAA Tournament Day 2 Predictions.

I'm drinking Mountain Dew LiveWire instead of regular Dew today in honor of the glory that will commence around noon.

Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin
- I couldn't possibly be more nervous about this one.

Tennessee over Oklahoma State
- At first, I was going to give this one to Tennessee because they also wear orange, but so does Oklahoma State. Then I was going to give it to Tennessee because its football coach is insane, but Oklahoma State's football coach is also insane. So in the end, I gave it to Tennessee because Tennessee is a better team.

Marquette over Utah State
- Anyone who picks against a Big East team in Round 1 is a fool.

Kansas over North Dakota State
- People on television seem to love North Dakota State. I'm thinking there's a reason the Bison are seeded 14th.

Arizona State over Temple
- Because Christmas in March is just fucking annoying.

Pittsburgh over East Tennessee State
- This pick is working under the assumption that all of Pitt's players manage to wake up and make their way to the arena today.

West Virginia over Dayton
- See "Marquette over Utah State."

Missouri over Cornell
- I've seen Cornell play in person. The only way the Big Red win is if they shoot 60% from 3-point range.

Utah over Arizona
- Why do I have to keep providing reasoning for these? My fingers are tired of typing.

Louisville over Morehead State
- Because Louisville is good and Morehead State is not.

USC over Boston College
- I have no good reason for this selection other than Boston College is stupid.

Xavier over Portland State
- This is taking fucking forever.

Wake Forest over Cleveland State
- No 400-foot buzzer beaters here.

Siena over Ohio State
- The most shocking part of Siena's upset over fourth-seed Vanderbilt last year? Somehow Vanderbilt got a 4-seed.

Michigan State over Robert Morris
- Michigan State against one dude? Seriously? They're only bringing one guy? Robert and Stephen F. might have a pretty sweet 2-on-2 team, but it's just not going to work here.

Florida State over Wisconsin
- I heard a stat that a Bo Ryan-coached Wisconsin team has never won an NCAA Tournament game against a team seeded eighth or better. That's enough for me.

Blake Griffin "Arm Barred"

Blake only scored 2 of his 28 points and miss half of his free throws after this take down. Maybe Ameer Ali is on to something. (Maybe he barely played because it was a blow out.)

Day 2. Predicted.

Standings Thru Day 1:

K-Gun 13-3
Poetry in Moten 13-3

We have proven to be equals through one day, but there are still 9 days of tournament basketball left for me to prove that I am better at guessing the outcome of basketball games.

On to predictions...

SYRACUSE over Stephen F. Austin
- One down, 5 to go. Chyeah.

Tennessee over Oklahoma State
- Everything about these teams would suggest that OK St would be the pick, so obviously I would go the other direction.

Utah State over Marquette
- The other 6 Big East teams will be doing fantastic in this tournament. Marquette will not.

Kansas over North Dakota State
- I wonder if ND State will keep it close for most of the game, get people excited, then end up letting the game turn into a blowout late.

Temple over Arizona State
- The Owls scare the shit out of me as a second round opponent for Syracuse.

Pittsburgh over East Tennessee State
- Pittsburgh won't have a problem winning. The real battle will be to escape with all ACLs intact.

West Virginia over Dayton
- There's no way two Big East teams will get upset in the same afternoon.

Missouri over Cornell
- A Cornell win here would be awesome. Well, awesome if I ignore the fact that one of my predicted Final Four teams would already be eliminated.

Utah over Arizona
- Arizona is fully capable of beating many teams in this tournament. That doesn't mean they'll beat any, but still.

Louisville over Morehead State
- Fun fact: Morehead State plays its home games in the Johnson Arena.

Boston College over USC
- My ACC/Big East over non-ACC/Big East in a toss up game theory went 1-1 yesterday. I will be improving that record here.

Xavier over Portland State
- I was tempted to pick an upset here, but decided against it when I didn't have any real reason for it other than just wanting to be tricky.

Cleveland State over Wake Forest
- The only reason for this is because it will make me feel better for Syracuse losing to them in December. It has nothing to do with logic.

Siena over Ohio State
- Two Big Ten teams are already gone. Let's get rid of another one!

Michigan State over Robert Morris
- Two institutions of higher education, three elementary schools, two towns, a number of Navy and Coast Guard ships, and an Inn have all been named after this guy Robert Morris. None of that will help one the University upset Michigan State, but still.

Florida State over Wisconsin
- If I'm right about all my Big Ten picks on this day, four of seven Big Ten teams will be be gone after Round 1. Nice job, Big Ten.

The Cuse is in the house!

This is the first half of a two-part YouTube series titled "Remembering Past Syracuse Glory in the NCAA Tournament."

A Better Set of Day 1 NCAA Tournament Picks.

My Big East Tournament predictions were a complete disaster, and I hope these selections are at least slightly less horrible.

LSU over Butler
- To hell with mid-majors.

Memphis over Cal State Northridge
- Fun Fact: Cal State Northridge used to be known as San Fernando Valley State College. Another Fun Fact: California State University of Northridge at San Fernando Valley State College is still no good at basketball.

BYU over Texas A&M
- The statement "to hell with mid-majors" does not apply to mormon schools.

Purdue over Northern Iowa
- I prefer Northern Iowa when it is abbreviated as "No. Iowa." As in, nobody needs Iowa, go away.

North Carolina over Radford
- There's nothing rad about driving a Ford.

Cal over Maryland
- When in doubt, don't pick the team that lost to Morgan State this year.

UConn over Chattanooga
- Fun Fact: In a previous life, I covered Chattanooga's point guard, Keyron Sheard. Great dude, great player, but not great enough to beat the Huskies.

Washington over Mississippi State
- Four signs your conference sucks: A team finishes the regular season with a 9-7 mark in your league. They win the conference tournament. They enter postseason play with 23 wins. And they get a 13 seed.

Texas over Minnesota
- Minnesota's court hovers above the first few rows of seats, like a stage. Sounds fun. Now get the fuck out of the tournament.

Michigan over Clemson
- Clemson's epic collapse, Part 346, continues.

Villanova over American
- Villanova hates America. Deport Scottie Reynolds.

Gonzaga over Akron
- Because I'm still upset at Akron for ruining the dream of two SUNY schools in the same NCAA Tournament.

Duke over Binghamton
- Scrappy white players versus problem players who have been featured for their off-court misdeeds. I'll defy all logic by taking the white players.

Oklahoma over Morgan State
- Because Oklahoma is better than Maryland.

UCLA over VCU
- Because when every talking head on ESPN predicts the upset, you know it's not going to happen.

Illinois over Western Kentucky
- See explanation for "UCLA over VCU."

NCAA Tourney Day 1 Picks

My predictions for today's games, in order of when they are supposed to begin:

LSU over Butler
- As much as I think the SEC sucks, they still have some big name schools there, and LSU just won their regular season title.

Memphis over Cal State Northridge
- I think Memphis is highly overrated, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to think they'll fall to a 15.

BYU over Texas A&M
- I went against this two picks ago, but in general I'm weary about lower seeded BCS schools.

Purdue over Northern Iowa
- Although Northern Iowa does have Jesus on their side...

UNC over Radford
- I hope this game is not on my TV today, I've had about enough of Ty Lawson's toe.

Maryland over California
- Whenever I am faced with a toss up between high majors, I'll usually pick the one that is ACC or Big East affiliated.

UConn over Chattanooga
- I have nothing to say about this game.

Washington over Mississippi State
- You had a nice run, Bulldogs.

Texas over Minnesota
- I'm wondering if I should regret this choice, because it seems like picking Texas is a little too obvious.

Clemson over Michigan
- See: Maryland over California

Villanova over American
- Who else to better handle a scrappy underdog than a scrappy favorite? So scrappy, that 'Nova.

Gonzaga over Akron
- I wonder if Gonzaga will ever make a Final Four. (Doubtful this year.)

Duke over Binghamton
- I can't describe how happy I would be if Duke lost to a 15 seed.

Oklahoma over Morgan State
- Although an OTL feature on Morgan State's coach convinced me they have a chance.

VCU over UCLA
- Mostly because I want the theory that UCLA really sucks to hold true.

Western Kentucky over Illinois
- Probably the most popular 12 over 5. Maybe it's because Western Kentucky beat the best team in the nation. Maybe it's because Illinois scored 33 points in a game this season.

Tournament Week Radio

A few ESPN Radio appearances to note this week as we lead up to the tournament...

- Jonny Flynn made an appearance on Tirico and Van Pelt's show.

- Jim Boeheim was clearly making the rounds this week, visiting with Mike & Mike, The Herd, and The Michael Kay Show. The Michael Kay link sends you to a 43 minute podcast, but don't worry, Boeheim is right at the top of the show.

Scoop and Wes are back for more.

Every day, I check the Syracuse Post-Standard's Orange Basketball blog in hopes of finding a new episode of "The Scoop and Wes Show." Usually, I end up leaving disappointed. But not today. Enjoy what could be the season (series?) finale:

The Scoop and Wes Show With Donna Ditota

So, How'd I Do?

Sunday afternoon, I posted my final bracket projection. All told, I think the results were fairly decent, especially since the lone criteria I used for seeding was the general knowledge and biases that already existed in my head.

• Correctly projected 64 of the 65 teams in the field (damn you, Arizona!)
• Projected 26 teams on their exact seed lines
• 33 teams were within one seed of the actual bracket
• 5 teams were within two seeds of the actual bracket

I was at my best for the 1 and 16 seeds, correctly projecting eight of the nine teams correctly. The numbers would have been much better, but I fell apart in the 9-13 range.

Who's #1?

With the recent conclusion of the Big East Tournament and the upcoming NCAA tournament, I am in complete tournament mode right now. I got to thinking about other possible tourneys, and then it dawned on me: what if there could be a tournament to decide the greatest Syracuse basketball team of all time? Well, thanks to the magicians at WhatIfSports, we can (sort of) find out!

Note: The only teams available on the website before the 1999-2000 team are the 86-87 and 95-96 Final Four teams, so we don't exactly get to include every team, but it'll be close.

I decided to take it upon myself to create a 12 team bracket out of the 12 available 'Cuse teams on W.I.S., then play it out Big East Tournament style (aka top 4 seeds get a bye). To determine seedings, I went by how successful each team was.

The #1 seed was obviously the 2002-03 team. Seeds 2 and 3 were the other Final Four teams (1986-87 taking the 2 spot). I awarded the 4th seed to the 1999-00 squad because they were Big East regular season champions. The 5 and 6 seeds were given to the 2005 and 2006 Big East tournament champions, 2005 taking home the 5 because they were overall a better team than the '06 miracle squad.

The 7 seed went to this year's team because they had the best overall record of the remaining 6. The rest of the seeds: 8 - 2004, 9 - 2001, 10 - 2007, 11 - 2002, 12 - 2008.

Now that I have the tournament seeded, time to begin!

8 Cuse '04 - 88
9 Cuse '01 - 78
- 2001 takes a 6 point lead into the half. With 8:32 left, McNamara puts 2004 up 62-61, their first lead since their 7-5 lead early in the game. 2004 has control the rest of the game. '01 doesn't give up, having it within 5 with 32 seconds to go, but '04 just ends up being too much for '01 to handle.

5 Cuse '05 - 74
12 Cuse '08 - 73
- A far more exciting contest than the first one. After taking a 2 point lead into the half, '05 is able to extend their 2nd half margin to as much as 16 points. With 5 minutes left in the game, '05 still held a 12 point advantage, but then the '08 squad stormed back into it, getting within 1 with 2:15 left on a Flynn jumper. '08 was never able to get a lead however, and McNamara was able to sink clutch free throws. Donte Greene hits a 3 at the buzzer, but it's too little, too late.

7 Cuse '09 - 67
10 Cuse '07 - 54
- This was a tale of two halves. '07 actually took a 5 point lead into the break, but '09 was able to quickly turn things around in the second half. After taking the lead away with 16:24 left in the game, '09 never relinquished the lead again.

6 Cuse '06 - 61
11 Cuse ' 02 - 60
- This game was a defensive struggle in the second half. With 4:27 left in the game, Josh Wright hits a jumper to tie the game at 59. There were no more points put on the board for nearly four minutes until DeShaun Williams gets fouled by Arinze Onuaku with 31 seconds left, going to the line and hitting one. Apparently looking to make up for his foul moments before, Arinze hits the game winning shot with 12 seconds left. Craig Forth misses a layup with 5 seconds left, and that wraps it up.

Side note: Until running this sim, I had completely forgotten that Arinze was on the 2005-06 team.

There were a couple close calls in the first round, but no upsets as we move on to the quarterfinals of the B.E.S.T. tournament (Best Ever Syracuse Team - I'm so clever).

1 Cuse '03 - 82
8 Cuse '04 - 69
- Losing Kueth Duany and Carmelo Anthony was obviously way too much for the '04 team to handle. '03 actually doesn't come up with their first lead of the game until there is 2:27 left in the first half, but once they get it, they never give it up. The champs move on.

4 Cuse '00 - 82
5 Cuse '05 - 77
- This one actually came very close to going to overtime. McNamara does something out of the ordinary for him and misses a potential game tying 3 with 7 seconds left in the contest. Ryan Blackwell comes away with the rebound and immediately gets fouled. He sinks 2, which ends up sealing the deal for '00.

2 Cuse '87 - 82
7 Cuse '09 - 70
- Apparently the young '09 team was just too awestruck by the '87 team. '87 goes into the half only up 6, but the second half is never really close, with the margin hanging in double digits for the majority of it.

3 Cuse '96 - 65
6 Cuse '06 - 64
- The McNamara Magic comes to an end - but not without a fight. '06 storms back from a 14 point halftime deficit to almost steal victory away from the favored '96 squad. John Wallace hits 1 of 2 free throws with 5 seconds left to elevate the '96 lead to 4 points, thus making a Terrence Roberts 3(?) at the buzzer pointless.

Heading into the tournament semi-finals, the higher seed has won every match-up. With the remaining teams, it would seem obvious that this isn't going to change. Not so fast my friend!

1 Cuse '03 - 89
4 Cuse '00 - 91
- The game of the tournament couldn't even finish in regulation, it took overtime for the '00 squad to upset the one and only group of National Champions in Syracuse history. With 49 seconds left, Jason Hart his 2 freebies to put '00 up by the winning margin. With around 30 seconds left, Warrick gets sent to the line for a 1-and-1. Anyone who knows anything about Syracuse basketball knows what happens next: Hak misses the front end. '00 gets the rebound and is able to run out the clock, securing a spot in the B.E.S.T tourney finals.

Side note: The result of this game is giving me a small sense of redemption, seeing the 2000 team beat the actual first SU champion. I remember believing from the moment the 1998-99 season ended up until Syracuse got scorched in the second half of their Sweet 16 meeting with Michigan State in 2000 that this team was going to win the national title. With Hart, Blackwell, and Etan Thomas all coming back as seniors, I thought it was destiny. I will admit right now to anyone reading this that Syracuse's loss to Mich St. in that tournament was one of the two sporting event results that ever caused me to cry.

2 Cuse '87 - 92
3 Cuse '96 - 96
- What a coincidence, the '96 team puts up 96 points. This was a game that wasn't really close late, as Sherman Douglas hit a 3 at the buzzer just to allow '87 to pull within a final margin of 4 points. John Wallace was a beast in this game, going 8-14 from the field and 9-11 from the line, scoring 28 points while adding 8 boards. I can't in good conscious bring up John Wallace without including a youtube link to one of the greatest moments of all time.

And so it comes down to this. The 1996 Orangemen vs the 2000 Orangemen, for the title of #1 Syracuse team in the history of the world...

3 Cuse '96 - 79
4 Cuse '00 - 69
- After an exciting tournament, it ends very anti-climactically. After allowing '00 to go into the half up 5, '96 takes care of business in the second, outscoring '00 by 15 points. Free throws tell the story in this one, as '96 went 17-19 from the line, while '00 only went 9-19.

So there you have it. After four rounds of battle, the 1996 Syracuse Orangemen are crowned kings Central New York.

Somebody link this to John Wallace, Todd Burgan, Lazarus Sims, Otis Hill, Jason Cipolla, and Marius Janulis and let them know they won something.

Selection Sunday is Here (Finally).

Here's my final bracket projection. I'll admit that it's eerily similar to Joe Lunardi's latest, but you'll just have to believe that I wasn't copying him. Great (and/or idiotic) minds think alike.

AUTO BIDS (31): Duke, Binghamton, Cornell, East Tennessee State, Temple, Louisville, Portland State, Radford, Purdue, Missouri, Cal State Northridge, VCU, Memphis, Cleveland State, Siena, Akron, Morgan State, Northern Iowa, Utah, Robert Morris, Morehead State, USC, American, Mississippi State, Chattanooga, Stephen F. Austin, Alabama State, North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Utah State.

LOCKS (29): Butler, BYU, LSU, Tennessee, Xavier, Dayton, Washington, UCLA, California, Arizona State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia, Marquette, Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State.

BUBBLE (5): Michigan, Maryland, Creighton, Wisconsin, Minnesota.

FIRST FOUR OUT: Penn State, Saint Mary's, Arizona, San Diego State.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Providence, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, New Mexico.

SEEDS:

1: North Carolina, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut

2: Memphis, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State

3: Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Villanova, Missouri

4: Washington, Syracuse, Florida State, Purdue

5: Xavier, UCLA, Gonzaga, Arizona State

6: Illinois, Clemson, West Virginia, Marquette

7: LSU, Tennessee, California, Utah

8: BYU, Ohio State, Butler, Texas

9: Oklahoma State, Boston College, USC, Texas A&M

10: Siena, Dayton, Utah State, Michigan

11: VCU, Creighton, Maryland, Wisconsin

12: Cleveland State, Temple, Minnesota, Mississippi State

13: Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky, North Dakota State, Akron

14: Binghamton, American, Robert Morris, Stephen F. Austin

15: Portland State, Cornell, East Tennessee State, Cal State Northridge

16: Chattanooga, Morgan State, Alabama State, Morehead State, Radford

Postgame Presser Notes

I just happened to catch the tale end of Syracuse's post game press conference. Boeheim and Flynn were on the podium answering questions. I couldn't hear the questions, but I noted a few things they said in their responses.

Flynn:
- Would definitely trade individual award for team trophy in tournament. It's all about the team's achievements.
- Guys like who don't really get the media attention - guys who most of the country hadn't heard of before this week - were huge for them, guys like Kristof and Rick. Says without guys like them, there is no way they would have made it through the 7 overtimes in 2 nights.
- Despite losing tonight, a lot of good is going to come out of this. A lot of guys on the team got a big confidence boost this week.

Boeheim:
- No doubt they will be fine next week. The last couple times they went on these Big East tournament runs, they were riding one or two guys. For example, in 2006 Gerry was absolutely wiped out heading into the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Doesn't envision this being a problem for this team. He thinks they will be rested by Tuesday - would be completely ready to play if they had to on Tuesday.
- Adding to Flynn's last comment: It's not just this week, the past two and a half weeks have been tremendous for this team.

The Big East Championship Game: Diaried.

I doubt diaried is actually a word.

At any rate - after the past two days, I'm feeling inspired heading into this championship game, so I'm going to take a page out the Bill Simmons' book of things to write and keep a running diary of the game tonight. You obviously know the story heading into the title game, so let's just get to it.

8:40 - A friend of the blog, John, makes a good point. There has been an "epic 1-seed fail" in each the Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC tournaments. This is a trend that appears to be working in Syracuse's favor.

Yes, I know the SEC is not on that list even though they apply. The point of the exercise was to note major conference 1-seed troubles, not mid-majors.

8:44 - Rece Davis reminds us that Jonny Flynn has played 147 of a possible 155 minutes so far in the Big East tournament. More importantly, he is ten minutes shy of the record for minutes played in a Big East tournament. Even more importantly, did you know that Darryl Watkins is the current record holder? This is mind boggling to me.

8:54 - Six minutes to tip off! I'm giddy right now. All day I've had this feeling that this is Syracuse's game to lose. I don't care if Louisville went 16-2 in conference this season and beat Syracuse in the Dome. The team we've been watching this week has been entirely different than that team we saw for most of the regular season conference schedule.

8:59 - Hubert Davis picks Syracuse. Digger Phelps picks Louisville. I knew I liked Hubert more.

9:01 - John: "that L sign is fucking [stupid]." I agree.

9:03 - Jay Bilas is talking about how great Louisville's press has been lately. Seems like the last thing a tired team like Syracuse needs is to face a good full court press. This could be trouble.

9:07 - We get to see player intros! That's pretty sweet. So much for that 9:00 PM tip ESPN was promising us. I'm over it.

9:11 - Jonny Flynn is the greatest human on this planet. That's all I have to say.

9:12 - Tipoff!

9:13 - DEVO! Two threes already. He came to play.

9:16 - Nine unanswered for Louisville. So much for that great start. This full court press is definitely going to be an issue tonight. Poor ball-handling team vs. very good defensive team...meh.

9:22 - ESPN has been glorifying the wrong player all week...what have they been thinking? Kristof is the real hero!

9:23 - Make that Rick Jackson. Six straight points for Agent Double Zero.

9:24 - Jonny Flynn is on the bench! Watkins is definitely paying off Boeheim to help preserve his record.

9:28 - Well, the press is doing its job so far for Louisville for the most part.

9:30 - ESPN runs the following stat: "Syracuse outscored 7-2 while Flynn was on the bench." I vote they don't bench him again this game. He can rest tomorrow.

9:31 - Dan Shulman apparently thinks all foreign white people look the same, given his inability to tell the difference between Kristof and Rautins.

9:35 - Under 8:00 media time out and it's a three point game. I don't think we could be asking for much more right now.

9:38 - Andy RRRRRRAUTINS! And for the 137th time in the past four days, Jay Bilas tells us how impressed he is with how quickly Andy Rautins can set his feet.

9:42 - TIME OUT LOUISVILLE! Eric Devendorf has to be under strong consideration for tournament MVP, right? I imagine if Syracuse wins they'll probably give it to Jonny Flynn, which is completely fine obviously, but Devo has an argument.

9:47 - G-MAC!

9:50 - Oh shit. I hope Kristof is okay.

9:51 - He's up and walking off. Thank God. That was extremely painful to watch, can't imagine how it felt to actually experience it.

9:53 - Arinze Onuaku should never be allowed to touch the ball unless he is standing right next to the basket.

9:55 - Syracuse ahead 38-30 at the half. Kristof is okay. Syracuse is clearly outplaying the Big East regular season champions. I couldn't be happier right now.

9:56 - Poetry in Moten text message: "ACCEPTABLE FIRST 20 MINUTES." I couldn't have said it better myself.

9:58 - Joe Lunardi thinks Memphis has passed UConn in the world of number one seeds. Joe Lunardi is WRONG. All of the teams that should have been considered as possible teams to crack the UNC/Pitt/UConn/Louisville grouping of four have lost already. Memphis should not have been considered. Weird that they would be completely average against real competition in November and December, then awesome against a completely overmatched conference since that time. Let's get real here.

10:07 - The College Gameday crew is discussing the Big Ten...and how unimpressive they are. Rece Davis notes that they have done "good things" on paper, but really, it's all been against each other. Thank you for finally realizing what most college basketball fans have known all season. It is going to be a travesty when the Big Ten has more teams in the tournament than the Big East. It is going to be hilarious when most of them don't escape the first weekend.

10:11 - Ahhh these Sonic commercials are killing me. It would be great if there was a Sonic anywhere near me so I could actually eat there. (Googles Sonic locations.) The closest one is 67 miles away. Thanks a lot, Sonic.

10:13 - And we're back! The second half is under way...

10:14 - ...and it took 11 seconds of game time for a foul to get called on Syracuse.

10:17 - Kristof is back! Hooray! (If I had told you in December that we would be excited to have Kristof enter a game, would you have laughed in my face or laughed really hard in my face?)

10:18 - And Louisville has already come back and tied the game.

10:19 - I may have to retract my previous statement about being excited to have Kristof back after that ridiculous play.

10:23 - Kristof to Jackson! That has been one popular play tonight.

10:24 - Under 16 media time out. Tie game. Obviously every Syracuse fan on the planet is thinking overtime right now.

10:25 - Winner comment from John on this topic: "...and you know Cuse would have insane swagger if it does. They'd just be like you know what? Yeah. Let's do this shit." Hell yes!

10:29 - No call on a Louisville travel. Thanks refs.

10:30 - Wow. Four shots at a 3 on one trip, three of them by Rautins, and they come away with nothing? Louisville lucked out there.

10:31 - Another lazy pass, another steal, Louisville extends run to 20-3. Ugh. Time out 'Cuse.

10:34 - Justin Thomas sighting!

10:35 - Syracuse has to do something here. Let's get it to single digits before the under 12 time out.

10:36 - Well, it's still at 11, but Kristof is going to the line when we come back. Dan Shulman has been waiting for a game and a half to go into a break asking the question "is it finally all weighing down on the Orange?" I say they have one good run at this thing left in them.

10:39 - Come back from media time out and Flynn is still on the bench? I guess the question the could begin floating out there now: at what point does Boeheim think about resting guys for tournament purposes if they can't get this game closer?

10:41 - Flynn back in the game. No more bench for him I say!

10:43 - Devo misses fast break layup, Flynn can't handle the follow. That was a big missed opportunity there.

10:46 - Under 8:00 media time out, Louisville up 10, Rick Jackson heading to the line when we get back. I just feel like Syracuse has come way too far to go down without a fight - I still hold to my 10:36 comment that they have one good run at this thing left in them.

10:52 - PRETTY PLAY BY KRISTOF! Great spin move, makes the basket and the foul.

10:52 - Too bad they suck at free throws.

10:53 - Great ball movement followed by a Rick Jackson missed layup. Come on!

10:55 - They are all gassed right now. I'm not sure they have enough energy to make a run right now.

10:57 - Boeheim uses their last time out, Louisville up 10. Even though they are out of time outs, they desperately needed a short rest here.

10:58 - Wow, Syracuse has only shot 28% in the second half. They have looked ice cold all 17 minutes so far, so I believe it.

11:03 - Devo just set the record for most points in a Big East tournament! There's a bright spot in this late deficit at least.

11:04 - Flynn hits a jumper to cut the lead to 7...

11:05 - You have to call the travel there!!! God dammit. That would have been a huge momentum swing if Syracuse got that call there.

11:08 - Why are they fouling already? I thought they had that trap set up well.

11:08 - Oh. Because Louisville is a weak free throw shooting team too.

11:09 - Boeheim pulls Flynn/Devo/Rautins for a standing O. Good move there.

11:13 - Louisville 76, Syracuse 66. That was still a hell of a week for Syracuse.

11:14 - Despite losing, Jonny Flynn was named tournament MVP. Awesome, well deserved.

Final thoughts: It would have been nice to win that game, but you could really tell during the whole second half that the past few days had finally caught up to them. You know what, though? For NCAA tournament purposes, I think a loss was better. They proved this week that they are a team to be reckoned with, and now they are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder next week. I've believed all season that this team can roll with any team in the nation, and now they are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time. I can't imagine they will come out and do anything but play inspired basketball when the tourney comes around. Of course I could always be wrong and they'll just get upset in the first round (let's not forget, this is still Syracuse we are talking about).

Daryl Gross 1, Rest of New York 0

When Daryl Gross arrived on the Syracuse University campus, he came with a dream. A dream to re-brand the Syracuse athletic department as more than just a city-wide, or regional team. He wanted all of New York - specifically, he wanted New York City. He put advertisements on top of taxis, and billboards on buildings, all in hopes of making Syracuse "New York's College Team."

Well, Daryl, your dream is now reality.

It began Wednesday evening, with this gem from Eric Devendorf, regarding the Orange's near-brawl with Seton Hall and Madison Square Garden:

“It’s our home floor, really, and when somebody knocks down our teammate or gets in the face of our teammate, we’re going to be there to help him and that was the case tonight,” he said. “So I guess they made a mistake.”

To hell with Seton Hall, which is located less than 18 miles from the Garden. To hell with St. John's, which plays some of its home games at MSG. This is ours now, thanks for paying the rent for so long. You can keep doing that part.

But the real kicker came following Syracuse's win over West Virginia on Friday. I'm sure Gross is wetting himself right now with excitement.

"We're New York's team,'' said guard Eric Devendorf.

Granted, he forgot to say "college" in between "New York's," and "team," but I'm sure Daryl will let it slide. Hell, this might be better. Nobody likes the Yankees, Mets, Bills, or any of those other garbage teams anyways.

I think Eric might have a place waiting for him in the Syracuse marketing department if this whole basketball thing doesn't end up working out.

Projecting the Field (Part II)

Different kind of bracket, but a bracket nonetheless.

Take Two. This time, it's seeded! Hopefully I'll have a chance to update once more before Selection Sunday.

1: North Carolina, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut

2: Memphis, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Kansas

3: Washington, Wake Forest, Duke, Villanova

4: Syracuse, Missouri, Florida State, Xavier

5: Illinois, Purdue, UCLA, Clemson

6: Gonzaga, West Virginia, Marquette, Arizona State

7: Utah, BYU, Cal, LSU

8: Butler, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma State

9: Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Boston College

10: Siena, Penn State, Dayton, Michigan

11: VCU, Creighton, San Diego State, Minnesota

12: Utah State, Cleveland State, New Mexico, Florida

13: Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky, Bowling Green, North Dakota State

14: Binghamton, American, Robert Morris, Portland State

15: Cornell, Stephen F. Austin, East Tennessee State, Cal State Northridge

16: Chattanooga, Morgan State, Alabama State, Morehead State, Radford

Last Few Teams Out: Maryland, Providence, Arizona, Auburn

Other Teams Considered: Rhode Island, Temple, Miami, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, UNLV, USC, South Carolina, Saint Mary's, Davidson