Jamie Mottram's Sports Blog - www.misterirrelevant.com

No matter how much style the Association may have*, college hoops is where it's at and even the most casual fans come around come March. With Duke's loss at FSU, Memphis's loss at UAB and Saturday's showdown at Durham, I'll probably be drooling like Yao asleep on the bench come conference tournaments time next week. Hell, 26 teams are on the Bubble. It doesn't get much better than this. So here to help get you in the mood like AK-47 on his "special day" if you aren't already are some blogger-in-arms...

 I love that teams like UAB exist.

Sportz Assassin is on semi-automatic:

"Bubble teams, they don't want to see the boat rocked...so they wanna see Nevada win the WAC tournament.....and George Mason win the CAA tournament....and Gonzaga win the West Coast tournament.  Because, if there are any upsets in there....that's bad news for those bubble teams, since one less spot will be available.

The MVC is unlike most of the other mid-majors.  This LEAGUE is legit.  Not just a team....or two teams...but more than half of their teams.  And more than half could make the tournament... They could get more bids than the ACC, Big XII or Pac-10.  All six of these teams are in the top 45 in the RPI."

Saved by the Blog calls Syracuse "suckas":

"In what is the biggest ass whopping since Epiphanny (better name than D'Brickshaw? It's a close call) scored 113 in a 137-32 victory, DePaul beat Syracuse 108-69 Thursday night.  The Orange, in my eyes, have beennothing more than a bubble team at best all season, and I think this 39-point loss to the second worst team in the conference proves that they belong in the NIT."

Deadspin posts two of the funniest videos I've seen all season (warning: these are both painful to watch):

· Texas A & M forward Chris Walker lip synching 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'

· Two Kentucky fans perform SNL send-up 'Lazy Tuesday'

Related: We had #20-ranked Georgetown head coach John Thompson III (JT3!) on yesterday's Sports Bloggers Live program. Hear it here.

* No offense to the NBA's blog army, which may be stronger than that of any other sport than MLB or maybe NCAA football. My fave three: The Basketball Jones, The Association and Yay Sports.

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• #2 Comment from breesty91 
  3/4/06 8:38 PM | Permalink

  To be honest, I agree. It seems like NCAA hoops is more competitive because the players have more of their hearts in the game. When I watch some NBA games, it seems like some of the players are just trying to get a paycheck. They do things that they know they shouldn't get away with, and when things don't go their way, they blame it on the refs or the coaches or anyone other than themselves. It sickens me beyond belief, because if they used their God-given talents in the right way, they would be so good in their game. But the things is that they are too worried about adding another 0 to their paychecks. NCAA basketball is more competitive, because they lay their hearts on the court, and they play hard no matter what the circumstances are. I am inspired by the NCAA players because I plan to play college ball after I graduate from high school, and it's nice to have students that I can look up to.
• #1 Comment from monponsett 
  3/3/06 11:44 AM | Permalink

  I hate coillege hoops.
  
  Why?
  
  - No talent. Up until this year, anyone with serious talent was in the NBA as soon as they finished high school. Now, they go to the NBA after their freshman year. Remember that kid from Vermont last year? He lacked the talent to play at the next level, although he tore apart college hoops.
  
  - No low post play. Is not every play of every game the exact same thing? Work the ball around the perimeter, then shoot a 20 footer when someone finally fails to rotate properly.
  
  - Overcoaching. The game might be more watchable if a kid drove to the hoop now and then, but that would upset the coach.
  
  - While we're talking coaches.. people who hate blacks might enjoy watching coaches punch/kick/strangle their players, they can't pull that crap with grown men(who, as we see, are quite capable of strangling the overbearing college coach who gets up in their face) with guaranteed contracts- rather than being able to do it to kids who have scholarships that they can terminate.
  
  - Ever notice that the schools who have consistently good hoops programs tend to be southern schools that aren't any good at football?
  
  - The same teams win every year. Watch this.... I haven't watched an instant of college ball this year, but I'll name the at least 4 of the final 8 teams right now: Duke, North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisville... and throw in a few schools that no one can place on a map (Gonzaga) and a couple of hypenated southern schools (a la UAB, UTEP, etc...).
  
  - I guarantee that the final game will end as either a blow-out or a free throw shooting contest.
  
    I'd watch Smackdown or Emeril before I'd waste 5 minutes of my time watching NCAA basketball.