Posts Tagged ‘louisville’

9 Who Could Win the Championship

Posted: January 16, 2013 in NCAA
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Well, we are about halfway thru the College Hoops Season, and though we never know who could crack the elite eight or even the final four, it isn’t much of a guessing game of who is actually going to be cutting down the nets in Hotlanta in April. It comes down to 9 teams..if one of these 9 don’t win, I’ll run around naked downtown, and no one wants that. Why these 9? Well let’s break it down to what you need to win a Championship in today’s modern age. Look at the last 15-20 years of championship NCAA basketball teams and you will find these similarities.

1.) Must have 1-2 legitimate NBA prospects: If you don’t have 1-2 NBA prospects, you aren’t winning a national title plain and simple. Reason being is that no matter how great of an effort or how great a team game someone may play, talent in the end is going to win out if the effort is equal. Once you get to that sweet sixteen and definitely final four level, this is why a lot of cindrellas fall to the wayside…talent is going to win out, and if it doesn’t look like it will, the refeeres will make sure of it…I call it “getting CBS’ED.” Look at the last five national title winners…Kentucky—Anthony Davis, Kidd Gilchrist etc etc, UCONN–Kemba Walker  Duke—Plumlee, Singler  UNC—lawson, green, hansborough etc etc Kansas—chalmers, arthur

2.) Strong Guard Play: In today’s college basketball world, it is all about guard play…you have a strong point guard who can break down a defense, that should get to at least the second weekend in March Madness….However, that only gets you so far…you also must

3.) Have a strong inside presence with 1-2 guys: Look again at the last give championship teams..Kentucky had Davis, UConn had Oriakihi and what seems like 4 other 7 footers, Duke had Plumlee and Kelly, UNC had Hansborough and Kansas had Aldrich.

4.) Strong Defense: This is almost like a “duh” statement but going down the list again, most of the teams that win championships are in the top ten of almost every single defensive team stat.

So, with all of that said here is the list this year…as I said if someone outside of this list wins…ill go running naked down the street…

1.) Louisville—high pressure yet controlled defense, Siva at guard, Dieng and Behanan at the forward spots…And as far as NBA goes…Dieng for Sure, Blackshear and one of the guards possible.

2.) Indiana—strong d again..holding opponents to an absurd fg percentage..Oladipo, watford, zeller..enough said

3.) Kansas—I despise them but the ingredients are there.

4.) Florida—9th year senior (or atleast it seems like it) Boynton, Patric Young etc.

5.) Michigan—Burke, Hardaway Jr….stingy defense

6.) Syracuse—Considered taking them off this list now that it seems Southerland might not play again this year.

7.) Arizona–Lyons, Hill and company

8.) Duke—Blah…who likes these guys?? Kelly, Plumless, Curry etc

9.) Missouri—complete homer pick I know but the ingredients are there and I had to have at least one darkhorse…Oriakhi, Bowers, Pressey

So there you have it…anyone think outside of this that anyone has a chance? Let me hear it!

 

BCS Stands for Big Conference Schools

Posted: October 22, 2012 in NCAA
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That is all that is ever invited to the “dance” in the current College Football Championship, and it will be the same when the four team “playoff” starts in two years.

For the sake of argument, and because I am pretty familiar with the team, let’s take a look at the University of Louisville Football team. Currently they are 7-0, in a mediocre conference, with no big wins of note. The only possible big time win they could have this year is at the end of the season when they go on the road to Rutgers. Both of these teams could be undefeated at that time, and both would be ranked somewhere between 8-15 in the country. Again for the sake of argument, let’s say that both teams are undefeated until their matchup and Louisville wins that matchup. Best case scenario they move up to about 6-7 in the country. They will be behind any other undefeated squads sans Ohio U, and probably behind a one loss Sec or Big 12 team or two. That is just the way it is in College Football, and it isn’t right.

Save Room at the Table

Now do I think that Louisville is better than an undefeated SEC or Big 12 team…or even a one loss team from either of these conferences? Eye test tells me no. It isn’t like Louisville is playing good competition, and they aren’t blowing out the teams that are on their schedule. However, why don’t they even get the chance to play the “big boys” at the end of the season? I doubt anyone thought that Butler would go to back to back National Championship Games in Basketball…but hey at least they got the chance to prove they could! The system is screwed up and why does anyone think that the four game “playoff” is going to be any better??

Louisville doesn’t have a freaking chance in either of these systems, neither does Ohio U from the MAC who may also go undefeated. Well why don’t they schedule tougher non-conference games you might say?? Well Louisville tries, but people won’t play them. Georgia backed out of a home and home just a few years ago. It could do more potential harm than good for a Big 12 or SEC team to play a good college football team outside of their conference. There is just no point….it isn’t like they are playing for seeding in a tournament and need that signature road win outside of their conference. There is zero initiative.

So, what is a team like Louisville to do? Well nothing except win the games that are on their schedule. Sadly, unless they change conferences, it isn’t going to matter when it comes to the Championship game. Louisville could go undefeated for the next three years and still won’t get to sit at the big boys table. It’s not fair, but that is just the way it is. Here is my question….why are the College Presidents, Conference Commissioners, and the Media trying to persuade us that everything is going to be great in two years when this new system is in place? All it is doing is inviting more big boys to the big boy table for big boy money….whoopdeefreakingdo!

Teachers of Young Men and Women or Hypocrites?

Posted: April 24, 2012 in NCAA
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About a day ago, yet another scandal broke out in college athletics. This time it involved a coach, but it wasn’t  Bobby Petrino. Oh Bobby had his own scandal, but this isn’t the one that I am referring to. Heck,  for those who know a little about Bobby and his family, nothing about the scandal really surprised anyone. Bobby will never be referenced as a morally upstanding kind of guy.

No, this time I am talking about his successor John L Smith. Whoa! But John would never hurt a fly. He is such a nice middle aged man, he is nothing like Bobby Petrino. Yes it is true that John probably wouldn’t cheat on his wife with a twenty something year old and give her a job that she wasn’t nearly qualified for. However, Mr. Smith is still a horrible role model to young men and women and here is why.

About five or six months ago, John signed a contract to be Head Football Coach at his alma mater, Weber State. During his opening speech, he talked about how great it was to be coming home after all this time.  He said he  couldn’t wait to shape these young men and prepare them for the rest of their lives. He should have finished that sentence with “until a better job comes calling.”

Traitor

You see, a couple of days ago, John decided he was going to take the head coaching job at Arkansas instead of even coaching a down at Weber State. Look, I am all for doing things to better your family, but this is ridiculous. John L just taught these young men…sign a contract, lie during your press conference, wait for something better to come along, break the contract, and screw everyone else. Awesome!

The really f’ed up thing about this is,  John is probably the same coach who will turn around and hold a kid hostage if he wants to transfer out of Arkansas, and go play football at say….Florida or any other SEC school next year. Just another hypocritical scandal of College Sports. Coaches can break contracts anytime they want, yet players have to sit out a year if they transfer, and sometimes are completely held hostage by the coach or by the NCAA. Man, we really are preparing these athletes for the real world. All about Me, Screw Everyone Else.