Rob thought we owed our readers (presumptuous on the plural I think) a primer on who to root for and against over the next several days from our obviously CAA-biased perspective. Here's what we've come up with...remember, the ultimate goal here is Old Dominion AND Drexel joining VCU in the Dance:Root Against:
WVU - As much as this pains us, because we at G:TB (Rob insists on doing the acronym this way) are huge John Beilein fans.
Depaul - Hot of late and could sneak in with a big run at MSG. Sammy Mejia is a baller.
FSU/Clemson winner - The loser's probably out, but it'd be better for the CAA if Clemson wins this first round matchup.
Illinois, Michigan, and Purdue - All three teams are competing for the same bubble slots as our beloved Monarchs and Dragons (oh my). Iowa needs to bow out quietly after dumping Purdue in the first round of the Big 10 tourney.
Air Force - The Falcons are slumping, but most experts have them in the dance. An early exit in the MWC tourney could change that.
Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Georgia - The SEC is surprisingly thin, but these guys need to go down early. Like their cheerleaders.
Stanford - Just because they've got a guy named Robin on their squad.
Kansas State - Hey, Huggy-bear, you're a dick. And a drunk.
Anyone other than Xavier in the A-10 - The conference is a joke, but Xavier could steal an at-large if they win a few in the tourney and don't win the title.
Root For:
Syracuse - Damn right we're rooting for Cuse. (Note - that's TJ's opinion. It pains me grievously to root for the Orange, but I'm doing it for the cause)
Villanova - Because we like Scottie Reynolds, and because Cuse and Nova wins make Drexel's strong resume even stronger.
Georgetown - Each win for JT3's boys helps ODU.
Every top seed in every conference, especially Memphis, BYU, UNLV, and Xavier.
It's a mess, a glorious, my-company's-not-getting-any-production-from-me-for-the-next-3-weeks sort of mess. Roll 'em out and strap 'em on (I assure you Rob is not gay, though sometimes he makes us wonder).
EDITOR'S NOTE: A quick check of the scoreboard reminds me that we're also rooting against the University of Richmond, just on principle. G:TB has an intense dislike of Spidey, and chuckles often at the karmic boomerang that drilled U of R square in the forehead following its decision to abandon the CAA for the fool's gold of the Atlantic 10.
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47 comments:
Nova/Depaul tips at Noon...
the bog with some love for g:tb this morning. if vcu wins the national championship, we may get calls from major domestic companies wanting to sponsor us. we need to be prepared to deal with the onslaught.
Rooting for 'Cuse is not only worthy of a medal of valor, but also grounds for Congressional commendation.
Damn right it is...there's a reason your site was one of the first links GTB ever had.
You two wanna make or something?
Eat a dick pal. OK, looks like Nova has the win...
Wow. Talking about the 'Cuse sure gets you riled up. I'm glad I wasn't around you during last year's Big East tourney telecasts.
My manlove for Gerry Mac is VERY unsettling.
teejay's gaying up the text of this post and now he's talking about gerry mac. color me a little bit frightened.
Quick Wiz bet update - Whit bought me lunch yesterday, as the Wiz were already 5-4 in the 10 game bet span, and their 129-109 win last night meant they officially went 6-4 over the ten games. As we told Whit at lunch yesterday, maybe it's time to stop betting against the Washington hoops franchise. 10 game results below:
@Philadelphia - WIN
Minnesota - WIN
Sacramento - WIN
@Chicago - LOSS
@Minnesota - LOSS
@New Jersey - LOSS
Miami - LOSS
Atlanta - WIN
Golden State - WIN
Toronto - WIN
A couple of trips to the playoffs, mid-season atop the conference, and now the cessation of the recent bleeding in an unforeseen manner -- it all adds up to being close to undoing the damage that years and years of Bullet disappointment did to my faith in the franchise.
But not quite.
Cuse with a 25-8 run to start the second half...
nice for the cuse. can't believe i'm typing that.
the more i look at the resumes of the respective bubble teams, the better odu looks. 4-3 against the RPI top 50, 9-6 on the road, RPI of 39, win at georgetown, 2 wins over drexel, 12-1 in their last 13 games.
dammit. richmond won.
hold the phone - espn's changed the result of the richmond/fordham game. looks like spidey actually lost. alright, alright, alright.
Here's Joe Lunardi's take:
"Bubble"/IN (10 teams)
• Stanford (a Thursday loss to USC will make for a very nervous weekend)
• Michigan State (fairly solid, but must avoid a loss to Northwestern)
• Georgia Tech (also fairly solid, but a loss to Wake would accentuate a 3-9 road/neutral record)
• Indiana (listed here mainly due to the possibility, however remote, of facing and losing to Penn State)
• Texas Tech (must avoid a Thursday loss to Colorado to be safe)
• Syracuse (must beat UConn today to be safe)
• Purdue (will play its way in or out Friday against Iowa)
• Illinois (I can't separate Purdue and Illinois, so we'll let the Big Ten tourney serve that function)
• Old Dominion (hanging onto the win at Georgetown and a season sweep of Drexel)
• Missouri State (hanging onto a nonleague win over Wisconsin, but most likely to be surpassed by Selection Sunday)
"Bubble"/OUT (12 teams)
• Kansas State (needs to face and defeat Texas Tech on Friday)
• West Virginia (must beat Providence today to stay in the conversation)
• Massachusetts (advancing to at least the A-10 title game is critical)
• Drexel (the Dragons belong, but must wait for the sands to shift above them)
• Florida State (a Thursday win over Clemson keeps the Seminoles alive)
• Michigan (back in the picture, but needs two wins in Chicago)
• Mississippi State (the entire SEC West should take a mulligan this season)
• Ole Miss (see Mississippi State above)
• Clemson (playing a true "elimination game" against Florida State on Thursday)
• Arkansas (must reach the SEC championship game)
• San Diego State (also seeking and needing a title-game appearance)
• Appalachian State (this year's Air Force or Utah State?)
Syracuse won. Visualize what you want, and it will happen for you.
Rob, I have something you should see:
http://38pitches.com/
Great, now we'll never see Rob.
Passing along a letter we received...
"Dear G:TB,
My G:TB Conference Tourney Rooting Guide informs me that I should root for Villanova and Georgetown. But they play each other today! What should I do?
Signed,
Confused in Washington"
(This did not come from the White House)
Seems to me that right now Drexel needs a pick-me-up slightly more than ODU does, so we should pull for 'Nova. What do you guys think?
I think we pull for Nova today as well, under the assumption ODU is higher on the at-large ladder right now.
One-fourth of this year's bracket will be filled by Big East and ACC teams only. That's a bit crazy.
agreed re: nova over the hoyas, even though i'd personally like to see the hoyas win.
re: schilling's blog, i've already seen it and am in fact penning an MLC entry about it (in part)
also, nice use of the approved g:tb style guide for the acronym, whit
It's 35-10, G'town. And from what I saw while at lunch, it's more of a blowout than the score would indicate. Drexel winces.
saw the first half of the hoya game - jt3 and the boys are taking it out on the cats. wow.
tom brady knocked up gisele bundchen, too? he's trying to start a master race.
No, no, no...OJ would like you to know HE knocked up Gisele.
The scores just keep rolling across the G:TB sports desk:
-Georgetown by 5 over Villanova (nice comeback by the Cats)
-Michigan by 9 over poo poo Minnesota
-FSU by 1 over Clemson (do we have a report on that finish?)
can't believe i have to root for carolina now.
Don't you work near a bar or two? go get us some info Thomas.
I work above a bar...and down the street from two Irish bars...and next to two hotel bars...
Well, we're waiting...
terps down 10 to miami in the first half. will someone please explain this team to me?
and good riddance to alabama - score one for odu and drexel.
Al Thornton is awesome
I like Miller Lite
Miss Lippy's car is green
Late afternoon update: Cuse just lose to Notre Dame by 6, and Maryland shit the bed, getting upset by Miami 67-62.
I think Drexel is fucked. Bruiser will be spending the next 12 hours attempting to spell NIT.
arizona's loss doesn't hurt, but the cuse drubbing does.
joe lunardi's got the dragons and the monarchs in the tourney as of today. a umass loss would help. air force fell to wyoming to close their season on a 4-6 run with losses to weak tcu and wyoming squads. the falcons have a strong rpi at 25 (should drop a bit) and wins over stanford, texas tech, wake forest (weak), and unlv, but are only 2-4 against rpi top 50 teams. both drexel and odu have much stronger resumes than air force.
What the fuck happened in the ACC yesterday?
The beginning of their conference tournament. It's in Tampa this year.
really, honestly, is there a better two-week period in the calendar than the one we're in right now?
if you say yes, you're not allowed to post here anymore.
Someone wants to be a wise-ass today I see...
You're right Rob, and not just b/c I want to continue to post here. There's more games than my three TVs can handle at this point. By the way, anybody getting the Pac-10 tourney on the local cable provider? Obviously, I'm not...and it kind of annoying me.
It's the booze talking TJ, it's the booze.
Go jump to the new Steve Perry post above...but yes, I'm getting the Pac-10 games on Comcast Sportsnet. I'm also getting the A-10 games, but that is actually torture rather than treat.
i, too, am getting the pac-10 games and i concur with teej re: the a-10, though the st louis/umass overtime was a notable exception.
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