Final Four Set, time for baseball and much more...

The Final four is set for Detroit. My bracket is really messed up and UNC looks like a team that might win it (which makes me sick to think about). 

Although I don't care about any of the teams in this years Final Four, and this being the last day of March, I got to thinking, "what is the best sports month of the year?"

April may be the best sports month of the year. NCAA Final Four, Opening Day and the first month of the MLB season, The Masters, NBA and NHL playoffs start (although I don't really care about the NHL playoffs) and the NFL draft. 

That is a lot of things happening in one month. The culmination of March madness, clean slates for every MLB team, Tiger, Lebron/Kobe/Wade/KG story lines, Canadians are gitty, and millions of people watching hours of a draft. That's a little of everything for everyone.

(I will add to this list too, for those who enjoy it, WrestleMania is in April. The SuperBowl of professional wrestling. Here's a classic clip of one of the biggest WrestleMania moments in its history.) 

So enjoy the warmer weather and the vast array of sporting events happening during this time of year. 

As for me, I will enjoy the weather, the sporting events and my second to last semester in college. 

NIT update

So the final four is set for New York and the NIT. I have three of four correct. The only problem I run into is that my prediction to win it all lost tonight in the nightcap game. St. Mary's was put out by San Diego State by four. 

Although my predicted champ is no longer in the NIT, I am still pleased that I have 75% of my final four correct. 

Notre Dame took care of UK, thus ending the most difficult season in recent memory for the Wildcats. It also may have been Billy Gillispie's last game as the UK coach. 

Penn State beat Florida, at Florida. 

Baylor nipped Auburn at Auburn. 

My predictions for the final four had all but one team playing on the road, now those are some bold predictions that were mostly correct. I will pat myself on the back for that. 

I wish I was this good at predicting the NCAA field. Which, by the way, Duke plays 'Nova tomorrow night, to say that I'm excited/nervous is an understatement. I am so ready to watch this game it's ridiculous. 

For all of my friends and family and those around me, I hope Duke wins, so they don't have to put up with me in a sour mood.

March Madness in full swing

The Sweet 16 is set. Most of my brackets are busts. No Cinderella's. Duke's still alive. Another Atlantic-Sun team put a scare in a big time program in the first round. The Big East is flexing its muscle and the NIT is on the back burner.

My team is still alive in the NCAA tournament and all of my teams that I've predicted to make the final four in New York City for the NIT are alive. I count that a good week of basketball.

Notre Dame will host Kentucky, who upset number one seed Creighton, for a chance to make the final four. (That sentence right there sums up how tough of a year it's been for UK. They UPSET Creighton. UK, with all it's national titles and all-Americans, had to upset a mid-major in the NIT just to extend their season.)

Baylor travels to Auburn in a 1 vs 3 seed battle.

My dark-horse pick, Penn State, faces a tough road game at Florida . 

As I write this St. Mary's is up seven on Davidson late in the second half. 

Although my NCAA tournament bracket is a little messed up (come on Wake Forest!) I am still alive with my NIT predictions.

Check back in a few days to see if all four of my picks make it to NYC.

Side note: Belmont lost tonight to Old Dominion in the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament. A few thoughts:

1: I had no idea this tournament existed! Having my schools arch-rival get invited to a tournament 1% of America knows exists and see that they won a game in it? Made me mad.

2: I found great joy knowing that they lost. There are a few teams that anytime they lose, to anyone, I find joy in it. Those teams are North Carolina, Belmont, the Yankees and Alabama football. 

One day away...

We are one day away from the greatest tournament in all of sports. The conference tournaments are over (tournaments where I might add, I picked one winner; my picks were horrible!).

The Cinderella's, the buzzer beaters, Gus Johnson, one shinning moment, "expert" predictions , filling out the brackets, I love it all.

But for all the love that the NCAA tournament gets, no one really ever pays attention to the other major tournament happening at the same time, the NIT.

Since the last time I picked the winners of a tournament (conference tournaments, last post) I was not very accurate, I figured in the spirit of March Madness, I will pick the winner of the NIT.

Since a few of the games were played last night, I will give you my picks for the Final Four and the winner of the little brother tournament.

My final four picks:

St. Mary's: This team is one that many believe should have made the NCAA tournament. It is a 26-win team with a chip on its shoulder and Patty Mills in its back-court. Expect to see them in Madison Square Garden.

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish under achieved by their standards this year. They were a top-10 team early in the year but fell off after a brutal Big East schedule. I expect them to be battle tested and fight their way to New York. Plus they have a guy named Luke Harangody you may have heard of.

Penn State: I picked them in the Big Ten tournament and they got put out early, so here's my chance for redemption. They won their first round game last night after a buzzer beating three by Talor Battle to send the game into overtime. Another bubble team with a chip on its shoulder.

Baylor: A team that made it to the Big 12 finals and lost out to Missouri. Their reward? A three seed in the NIT. Luckily for them, I think they have the easiest road to New York City. I think the Big 12 schedule will prepared them for post season play. (Plus, I really like their uniforms)

As for the champion of the NIT I have St. Mary's winning it over Notre Dame.

So while everyone in America is infatuated with the NCAA tournament (let's face it, I'll be infatuated too) I'll be keeping an eye the NIT.

Conference Tournaments

This week it's time for the big boy conferences to crown their champions. So in honor of "Championship Week" I thought I'd give my thoughts on who I think will win the automatic bids from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East and Big 12.

ACC: The granddaddy of them all. The conference tournament that started the conference tournaments. 

The favorite: UNC. No. 1 ranked team. No. 1 seed. Tyler Hansbourgh...blah, blah, blah.

My pick: Duke. (yes, partially because I'm a homer) Here is why I pick Duke. They have the talent obviously and UNC's Ty Lawson is hurt with a toe injury. Wake Forest, the No. 2 seed, is a young and inconsistent team, so I don't expect them to even make the finals. So that leaves a Duke squad that has let both UNC games slip away from them.

Big East: This conference is STACKED. 

The favorite: Pitt. And why not? They are loaded, deep and have DeJuan Blair, co-player of the year in the Big East. Plus, they beat UConn twice when they were ranked No. 1. 

My Pick: Pitt. For all of the reasons listed above.

Big 12: Kansas again? All year it looked like a one-horse race, Oklahoma. Boy how injuries can change the landscape of a conference.

The favorite: Oklahoma. Even with the injuries they now have back the national player of the year front runner, Blake Griffin. With a healthy Griffin this team is a Final Four threat.

My Pick: It's hard to go against OU with Griffin in the line-up but I think that they will have a tough time even getting to the title game having to most likely play Missouri. So I'm going with the regular season champs, the young and (in my opinion) over-achieving Kansas Jayhawks. 

SEC: Down year. The league with perennial powers Florida, UT and UK is now lead by division winners South Carolina (SOUTH CAROLINA!) and LSU. 

The Favorite: LSU. They ran through the SEC this year, shocking many people along the way. I couldn't tell you one player on their roster or who their coach is but apparently they had one heck of a year. 

My pick: LSU, mainly because Tennessee and Kentucky just aren't their normal productive teams this year. I do think UT has a very legitimate chance to win the tournament the way they have been playing lately and UK is playing for their NCAA tournament lives, so they could make some noise as well.

Big Ten: The league you love to make fun of. (Mostly for football, especially being in the heart of SEC country I hear people making fun of this conference for all sports. It's like they're the little brothers of the big conferences. Occasionally they will do something good and then they run into older sibling who puts them in their place. Anyway, moving on.)

The favorite: Michigan State. They again were impressive on their way to another regular season title for Tom Izzo. 

My Pick: Upset pick: Penn State. That's right, I said that. Read it again. Penn State. I don't know why but having watched them twice this year they seem to play with a chip on their shoulders, the "so you only think we have a football team huh? Well, we'll show you!" kind of chip. 

Those are my big conference picks. I realize I went out on a limb with the Penn State pick but hey, it's march, anything can happen!

Bad Weekend

This weekend was rough. Lipscomb had its season ended in the semi-finals of the A-Sun tournament and the next day Duke lost to UNC. Ouch. Sports wise this was a really tough weekend for me. 

So, since I would rather not be a downer I'm going to look forward to my spring break where I will get to see a Red Sox spring training game in Fort Myers, Florida. 

Something that has been on my mind for awhile now has been my sports bucket list. Not sure why I have been thinking about this recently but I decided to list my sports bucket list.

In no particular order:

- Attend a Duke vs UNC game at Duke- Any game at Cameron Indoor Stadium would be awesome to attend, but this game? Wow! Top three greatest rivalry in sports. Period. 

-Attend a Duke senior day game- Just to hear the senior speeches at the end of the game. 

-Watch a Red Sox vs Yankees game at Fenway- Legendary stadium, legendary rivalry. Great atmosphere. Give me a Fenway Frank and a seat anywhere in the stadium and I'm a happy camper. 

-Watch a Red Sox game from the top of the Green Monster- This is a tough ticket to get, and if you do get it, it's expensive. I'd pay it for it without a second thought. 

-Attend a National Title game for both college football and basketball- I don't care as much for pro sports title games, even the Super Bowl you miss the commercials which are often the best part of the game. With college you normally get a great game, amazing atmosphere and I would love the chance to watch either of these games in person.

-Go to a soccer game in Europe- Never been to a pro soccer game. I've never been to Europe. But have you seen how crazy those fans are? 

-Run with the bulls- I count this because it takes athleticism and a set of....good running shoes...

-Attend a night game at Wrigley field- I mean it's Wrigley Field! 

-Interview John Wooden- Arguably the greatest coach ever. In any sport. Plus a class act.

-Attend the Gold Metal game of team USA men's basketball at an Olympics- I love my country, I love basketball, I love the Olympics. Mix them all and it makes the list.

-Attend a World Cup soccer game- Again, worlds most popular sport on its biggest stage. Crazy fans and intense action. I love just watching this game on TV, I can only imagine what the atmosphere is like in person. 

The Bison crushed the Campbell Camels tonight to advance to the semi-finals of the Atlantic Sun tournament. I'm excited. I'm scatter-brained. So in honor of my scatter-brained-ness (new word, just made it up) this post will be my thoughts of what has caught my attention in the world of sports.

A-Sun tournament- MARCH MADNESS!

A-Rod- Hurt hip, out for months? Karma.

Belmont's first round win in the A-Sun tournament- Luck. (Plus, the guy who hit the game winner was standing out of bounds when he got the rebound. Fyi.) 

Warm weather- Red Sox baseball

T.O.- got cut, funny. (also karma)

Missing Football players in the ocean- sad. 

Manny finally signing with Dodgers- Angry. He should still be with the Sox.

NHL trade deadline- Who cares? (I mean, no one in America does. Plus, I can't even pronounce half of the foreign names of hockey players.)

Sportscenter (lately)- Yawn. Can we please get back to showing highlights? Who wants to watch 25 minutes of analysis of why T.O. got cut and where he'll end up? Not me!

Well, I'm sure there is more going on in the sports world but this weekend I'm contained in the the bubble that is the A-Sun tournament (seeing as I'm in the arena about 10 hours a day working it). 

The next post I have will be post-tournament, I'll fill you in on either my extreme joy or extreme sorrow. 

It's that time of year again...

March. Spring is just around the corner; and so is madness! 

March Madness is a huge event for any basketball fan in America. Teams across the country dream of making it to the "Big Dance", including Lipscomb. 

For mid-majors, winning their conference tournament is often the only way they have a chance of making the NCAA tournament. This week begins the Atlantic Sun tournament on Lipscomb's campus. Seven teams are all hoping to win the tournament and punch their ticket to the dance. I am confident that the number four seeded Bison will be the ones punching our ticket. 

The Bison ended the year on an eight-game winning streak. We beat the teams in front of us in the standings (rather handily I might add) and have the eight longest winning streak in the country. Playing at home is a HUGE advantage as we are a very tough team on our home court the past couple of years. 

I am extremely excited about our chances of winning the tournament. We have the momentum, the home court and the confidence to be the team cutting down the nets this year. 

Look for Lipscomb to be carried on the shoulders Adnan Hodzic who continues to be the most dominate post player in the A-Sun.

Check back later this week to see how we did.