10 Questions to the Editor - Bracket-Style [Mid-Week Edition]

Pay reads my thoughts sometimes. Probably not vice versa though.

After 3 successful weeks - and just about 10 days until Selection Sunday - I decided to disturb Pay's week and throw out a pick-six of questions (of course, you know that means SEVEN) after three nights of pre-March Madness.

Don't worry, we'll be back this weekend too.

Yep, we know TO got released. But we're here to talk brackets. Not about his quarterback. In fact, we knew it when it was reported at midnight by Michael Smith on Sportscenter. Yeah, what!?!?!
Credit: Millions of Hilarious Google Image Searches

1) "Quinn Snyder Who?"
Blake Griffin goes for 16 and 20, yet the Oklahoma Sooners lose to Missouri (who is 18-0 at home btw). Meanwhile, Kansas loses @ (2-12 in conference) Texas Tech in a relative 19-point laugher. With that in mind: has Oklahoma ruined their chances at a #1 seed?

2) "Missing in Action"
Marquette thumped Pitt in the opening stretch of the second half - with a 21-5 run out of the gates - but couldn't seal the deal, ultimately losing 90-75 to DeJuan Blair and company (largely due to a 21-2 run of their own). Question is: is the loss of senior guard and captain Dominic James simply too devastating to take the Golden Eagles seriously come tourney time?

3) "Really an Upset?"
Let's make it simple. Whose home loss was more surprising: LSU's to Vanderbilt or Purdue's to Northwestern?

4) "Rambling Wreck!"
Admit it, after tonight's loss to Georgia Tech...even the staunchest Miami (Florida-style) supporters have to shut their yaps. Right?

5) "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye..."
Is it possible that both SEC stalwarts Kentucky (losing to Georgia) and Florida (losing to Mississippi State) sealed their bubble fates with damaging losses tonight?

6) "Mired in the Muck"
Is it possible a mid-major (i.e. Creighton, Sienna, St. Mary's, Davidson) was the big winner with SO MANY bubble teams losing in the past 48 hours (Va. Tech, Maryland, Florida, Kentucky, Miami (Fl), Georgetown, Notre Dame, Kansas State)? Or was it a major conference squad like Providence, Texas A&M, or Arizona (who does draw Cal tomorrow)?

***Bonus Question***
7) "Isn't this a FOOTBALL Conference?"
No it isn't a trivial question this time. Minnesota moves to 9-8 in the Big 10 with a HUGE home victory against Wisconsin. Next up: Michigan. Problem is, what are we mere mortals to make of Big Ten bubble squads Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, and even Northwestern? A simple in/out (as of tonight) would suffice.

Quote of the night: Shawn Taggart of Memphis.
“I feel like a lot of people out there disrespect our conference,” Taggart said. “A lot of people act like it’s the worst conference in the country. To keep winning like this is a big deal. I’m sure if you put North Carolina in this conference, they wouldn’t go undefeated. It’s very tough.”

Oh yeah, here's a clip to make you smile (especially YOU Pay).
Credit to Dan B via YouTube on this gem.

Running Commentary for Saturday's Games

Note: Clement stepping in for Pay...just for today.

2:00 pm Late start after a late lunch for me. Ohio State leading 29 to 25 at the half. Ugly shooting to open the game with both teams under 25% in the opening ten minutes. Oden out of foul trouble at the moment; however, he's clearly rushing shots and appears frustrated on offense.

2:45 pm Xavier on a furious run of incredible shot-making. They are leading 55-44 and the first #1-seed is officially on the ropes. Oden with 4 fouls and now it's time for Conley Jr./Lewis/Cook and co. to start making smart shots or the #1 team in the country is TKO'd.

3:14 pm Ron Lewis just capped an incredible comback by the Buckeyes with a 3-pointer with 2 seconds to go to tie the game at 62. Should they have fouled him before he released the near 27-footer? Overtime is upon us...

3:30 pm Following an early Musketeer basket, Conley Jr. drains an open three for the first of his 11 overtime points, 7 of which were unanswered, to give the Buckeyes the lead and the eventual win. The Buckeyes escape Lexington and are the first official entrant to advance to the Sweet 16, despite a valiant effort from the kids at Xavier.

5:00 pm – Things may be getting chippy between the Terps and Bulldogs in the second half. Both teams flopping quite a bit. Meanwhile, A&M and Louisville tied at 28-28 at the half in a quiet game.

5:23 pm – Horrid charging call on DJ Strawberry with 39 seconds to go, preventing the Terps a golden opportunity for a tie. Maryland decided not to foul, Graves with a beautiful pass but a missed three. However, Butler grabs the loose ball and is fouled with less than 4 seconds left. 1 of 2 free throws are made. Crone tips an in-bound and then a second in-bound, with less than .7 left, results in a loose ball that Jones can’t corral. Butler advances to the Sweet Sixteen in one of the better second-round games of the past few tournaments. Time to turn out attention to the Cardinals & Aggies

5:50 pm – A&M leads 50-46 with Law (19) and Kirk (14) battling Sosa (22) as we enter under 12-minutes. Georgetown just tipped with BC and ditto Vandy/Wash. St.

6:00 pm – VCU tips off with Pitt finally. Early baskets for Aaron Gray and BA Walker.

6:20 pm – They’ve called it “snowy” Buffalo a sickening amount of times. Kevin Harlan terrible on the mic as usual. Not having the package from DirecTV is brutal. A&M trails Louisville with 1 minute to go 69-68. Far too many whistles all game long, consistent or not. BC has taken the lead for the first time on G-Town 24-21 under 6 minutes. VCU trails 24-17 as their lack of size and strength is apparent today.

6:25 pm – Deep three missed from Sosa and a Pompay loose ball rebound ends up in Law’s hands with 1.7 seconds left. Not the best three attempt from Sosa that hits the front of the rim. Law IV sinks the first free throw. 71-69. Second one coming. No timeout left for Louisville. A few subs enter. Second free throw is good [26 points for Law now]. Sosa’s heave from half-court is no-good as it hits the top of the backboard. A&M advances to the Sweet Sixteen to face the winner of Nevada/Memphis on Sunday.

6:30 pm – Pitt looks real strong against VCU, who after a 5-8 start is 2 of their last 15 from the field. Pitt takes a 29-19 lead with a little over 5 minutes to go. Poor subs by Grant and a lack of execution on offense seems apparent. Shuler’s deep three cuts it to 7. BC leads Georgetown 30-26 at the half [Dudley with 10 and Rice with 12 while Hibbert and Green have 2 fouls each] AND Washington State, behind Low's 10 points, with a 33-25 halftime lead.

6:48 pm - VCU completely outsized and outmatched by Pitt, who leads 41-26. Rebounding is decidedly with the Panthers who are shooting well over 50%. Grant can't find a quick-fix and hot-headed Maynor had an early technical. He won't allow bigger name schools to push him around, even though the refs always do to mid-majors not named Gonzaga. Meanwhile, VCU is stangnant with the ball shooting 31% (including 2-9 from 3-point territory). Aaron Gray has been solid and Pitt has been very physical inside the paint. Fameni is clearly affected with the broken nose and mask. VCU will need a miracle second-half run to have any chance of not losing by double-digits at this rate.

7:33 pm – Status check: Georgetown holding on against BC 54 to 52 with 3 minutes to go. Vanderbilt trails Washington State 59 to 57 with 2 and change. Pitt had the lead at 19 and it is now 13 after Graves picks up his fourth foul at the 10:10 mark. VCU needs key plays and shots from its backcourt and to continue its successful press. Huge miss by BA Walker after a steal. Kendall playing extremely well.

7:40 pm – Byars with a contested layup miss and Washington State has the ball in a 60-60 game with 24.1 left. Washington State hasn’t scored a field goal in over 7 minutes. VCU trails 10 at the under-8 timeout with Maynor shooting 2 free throws. Georgetown has pulled away from BC with 14 seconds left.

7:41 pm – Georgetown victorious 62-55 and advances to the Sweet Sixteen. Weaver stone-cold bricks a top-corner three with 3 seconds to go for WASU. Byars calls a timeout and the officials are searching to find how much time is on the clock. Vandy should get a second for a final prayer before overtime.

...things get a little crazy here with both games...

7:43 pm - Maynor strokes two free throws and its 58-50 with 6:45 left. Pitt returns with 4 straight to push it back to 12. Time is running OUT for the Rams. 0.5 seconds left for Vandy and the pass sails out of bounds after brief contact with a Cougar. OVERTIME.

7:50 pm – 5 minutes to go and an 11-point Pitt lead. Pellot-Rosa deep three takes it down to 8. 5 seconds again called against Pitt. They aren’t saved by a 'timeout-call' this time. 4:46 left. BA for 3 and its 63-58. Harlan finally acknowledges VCU talent outside of Maynor (who is struggling mightily).

7:58 pm – Tie game in Sacramento. Vanderbilt and Washington State tied at 60. 8.7 seconds to go and its Commodore basketball. My sleeper pick is oh so close to a big upset tonight. Turnover to the Cougars on the in-bound and an amazing block by Byars on a layup attempt the other way! Oh my! 1.2 seconds left for Vandy at mid-court. Could we be at double-overtime? Shades of Gonzaga/Arizona from 2003 are dancing through my head. Timeout Vandy.

7:59 pm – Pellot-Rosa with a crazy reverse layup. Might’ve turned an ankle. Pitt up only 3. Meanwhile, Vandy almost turns the ball over. GREAT no-call. How much time is left? 0.01? Sloppy work. Byars almost worked a foul call. But again, a great no-call by the refs (no Al Thornton-esque moments needed). VCU on a 30-14 run when it was once 51-32.

8:00 pm - BA Walker pulls up with an amazing deep three from the top of the key. If it was Pitt, Harlan would’ve said, “Right between the eyes!” TIE-GAME! TIE-GAME! 67-67 at 1:40 off of another turnover. Oh My Oh My! Anthony Grant is HYPED to say the very least.

8:03 pm – Double overtime for Vandy and Washington State. Instant Classic in the works…

8:04 pm –Chants of “VCU” finally emanating from the crowd. Maynor brings the ball up…

8:05 pm – Pellot-Rosa with a man’s rebound and a stronger put-back. RAM LEAD by 2. Sam Young pretty breakaway layup to tie it, the press got bit. Just like against Duke with Nelson. Shucks. 47 seconds left. Ram ball. Panthers pick up loose ball with 19 off a Pellot-Rosa 3-point miss. Sloppy and rushed shot. Dang. 10 seconds. Foul call with 2 seconds left. Minor contact after the shot. Odd call. Check that: bad call. 2 shots. Anderson blocked it before the foul. Tough tough call with 2 ticks left against Pellot-Rosa who got a little hand after the ball was released and the shooter was comin' down. VCU would’ve had a breakaway, potentially 3 on 1. Imagine. Just imagine if the call went against a Duke, UNC, Syracuse, or UCLA. Imagine the ATTENTION it might get…

8:06 pm – First shot is no good. Second shot…no good as well! Pitt offensive rebound. Jump ball call, it seems as the clock expires. Overtime…apparently. Apparently. Pitt wants 0.2 seconds or so on the clock. Refs checking the clock. Overtime it is.

8:11 pm – Vanderbilt upsets Washington State 78 to 74. A 3-seed is down. Could another be on the way? Probably not, but we’ll watch, hope, and pray anyways…

8:12 pm - Pitt up 4. Fields with the craziest of threes. You knew it would go in with the clock down to 3 and a wild shot being ready to be flung from behind the arc. Pro Pitt-commentators ecstatic for him. Dixon looks so unnerved on the sidelines still.

8:15 pm – Fameni tanks a 18-footer. Horrid execution. Things are getting scary near the 2-minute mark for VCU. Will Pitt score on every OT possession? Ramon 3. Pitt is unstoppable in OT thus far. Up 7 at78-71. Figures. Figures…

8:20 pm – MSU tips off with UNC. Beware of the evil that is Izzo.

8:21 pm –VCU is desperate to say the least. Layup by Pellot-Rosa with 1:15 left to cut it to 5. Pitt breaks the press as we go under a minute.

8:23 pm – Shot clock ticking down. Maynor rebound and down to Shuler. Down 3 at 80-77 off of a Shuler layup off of his own miss. Commercial time. “This is our country” Chevy commercials plagued the NFL Playoffs and continue now. I’d do a lot of harm to the advertising team who created this slogan. I honestly would.

8:25 pm –Pellot-Rosa was scoreless in the 1^st half. He has 17 in the second half. Anderson foul on Young. He bricks the first. Can VCU back out? Possession arrow to VCU. Second free throw…missed. Maynor with a pretty layup after driving to the hoop with relative ease. 1-point game with 22.6 left. I wonder if a kickout-3 might've been more effective, despite all the time. Very close to a steal with 4 guys surrounding Cook. Correct foul call. Pitt up 1 at 80-79. Foul after a good press attempt, Cook drains the first. Kendall can’t look…he’s on the bench b/c he fouled out. Chicken. Second free throw…is good. 3-point game. 19.1 left. Now they make them...

8:26 pm – Brick from Walker at the top of the key. Anderson tips it out near half-court, somehow to a Pitt player and over two Rams it appeared. Foul on Walker. It’s over. Walker’s shot just wasn’t right. I wish Pellot-Rosa had a look, as Walker off of the screen isn’t as strong as Walker straight-up or Jesse creating his own shot.

8:29 pm – Young back at the line. Makes the first and second. 5-point game. Somebody call LJ. And whoever fouled him. Miss by Walker. Pitt in the Sweet Sixteen. VCU better be a top 5 story of the tournament. Check that, top 3.

8:30 pm - One day mid-majors will get the benefit with better non-calls. That foul call at the end of regulation should’ve led to a block and a fast break for VCU. I will never forget that 30/70, not 50/50 call, going against us. I may be the only one. And if you think I’m bitter…I’ll monitor you closely for every close call you pine for after a game. Whoever you are.

8:48 pm - Great 3-point play by Hansbrough. He's going to get eaten for lunch with his post moves and shoulder leans in the NBA. Especially from Dwight Howard. Nevertheless, it's definitely working at UNC. 36-31 with both teams shooting well. Spartans 5-9 from 3-point land. UNC still seems a lock tonight with this pace. The Texas/USC winner has a ton of conditioning to do with Lawson upcoming. UCLA is about to get underway, I believe. Late tip to say the VERY least. See you at halftime...

9:04 pm - UCLA tips off with Indiana as they trade baskets. Meanwhile, UNC 41-33 at the half. Hansbrough with an IMPRESSIVE 19 points. Wow.

9:58 pm - UNC and Michigan State going back and forth. Lawson is lightning quick and the Spartans have a ton of guys in foul trouble. Meanwhile, Neitzel with a crazy drive to the hoop to get a 1-point lead. This feels a lot like Arizona/Gonzaga, especially with Dick Enberg calling the game, in 2003. I reference that twice today. State leads 59-58.

10:30 pm - Just too much NC late as they power past the pesky Spartans 81-67. Strong games for Hansbrough and Lawson. Just about everyone, outside of UNC & USC fans are hoping for Durant and co. to get past USC. I think...

11:00 pm - Despite a near miraculous comeback, Indiana falls short to UCLA mostly due to their own doing. Several missed free throws, a terrible turnover down 2 with 30 ticks left, and poor three-point shots took the Hoosiers down. UCLA 54 to 49 over Indiana. Night ova!

Livin’ on a Prayer

Saturday gave us plenty to talk about.
Bubble teams saw too much go wrong and very little go right.

Memphis marched closer towards a 2-seed by dispatching Houston. Vermont choked away a golden opportunity vs. Albany (horrid coaching). UNC whipped up BC. (Did Dudley intentionally hit Hansbrough?) Oden and OSU took care of Purdue, as expected. Kansas held on vs. pesky Kansas State. Va Tech slipped up AGAIN, this time vs. NC State. The state of Mississippi took a step back off of the bubble with Ole Miss losing to Florida handily and Arkansas outgunning and outrunning Miss State. Oklahoma State’s season ended vs. Kevin Durant and Texas. Illinois became the penultimate big-name bubble team with a bad loss to Wisconsin. GW stamped a ticket from the A-10. Miami (OH) got the luckiest shot of the day to advance to the dance. UNLV had just enough against BYU and is hot entering March Madness. Hang Time alum Reggie Theus led New Mexico St. to the dance out of the WCC. Georgetown pummeled Pitt and an overwhelmed Aaron Gray to capture the Big East title. Florida A&M provided memorable late-second drama, Jackson State is back dancing again, and Long Beach State took home a late-night ticket. Most surprising to me though had to be Oregon annihilating USC from start to finish.

Deep breaths. Quite a day!

Sweating it out most heavily has to be the likes of: Drexel (CAA), ODU (CAA), Stanford (Pac-10), West Virginia (Big East), Air Force (MWC), Alabama (SEC), Appalachian State (SoCon), Kansas State (Big 12), Purdue (Big 10), Oklahoma State (Big 12), Missouri State (MVC) Texas Tech (Big 12), Illinois (Big Ten), Xavier (A-10), and Florida State (ACC). [I know I forgot a team or two…]

Perhaps Arkansas (supported by some and forgotten by others) is the only true bubble-team still playing tomorrow. Sorry Michigan fans…you’ve been TKO’d ever since Friday afternoon. Although you had to know that.

Problem is: Sunday may have even more in store for the true bubble teams. [Arkansas, Stanford, Air Force, Illinois, Drexel, ODU, Purdue, Missouri State, Florida State, and Xavier…in my humble opinion)

Here’s the lineup…

SEC Championship Game: 1:00 pm in Atlanta, Georgia
Florida Gators vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Pick: Gators by double-digits.

ACC Championship Game: 1:00 pm in Tampa, Florida
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack
Pick: Tar Heels pull away late.

Big Twelve Championship Game: 3:00 pm in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Texas Longhorns
Pick: Durant and co. fall short at the buzzer vs. Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.

Big Ten Championship Game: 3:30 pm in Chicago, Illinois
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Pick: Oden and Conley Jr. pace the Buckeyes past Tucker in another ugly matchup.

There’s also one minor bid up for grabs, from the 1-bid conference known as the Southland Conference, in which Texas A&M C.C. faces one of last year’s tourney darlings Northwestern State.

So while the committee remains hard at work, much of the country will be tuned into a spectacular quartet of games. Question is, will they be watching them or just hearing updated scores here or there?

Quick Thoughts
-Arkansas isn’t an at-large yet, but you have to believe even a close showing here might be just enough to sneak them in due to “how well they’re playing RIGHT now”.
-Florida is playing for a 1-seed in the South in my opinion. This is no time to waste this opportunity.
-North Carolina could win and still not earn a 1-seed. However, I see them winning AND acquiring one of the four 1-seeds.
-NC State isn’t in…but they’ve beaten Carolina before this season (albeit in Raleigh). Anything can happen with a jacket like Sidney (not Suge Knight) Lowe's in the St. Pete Time's Forum.
-Kansas may be the hottest team in the country, yet still seems incredibly venerable at times to me. It’ll be interesting to see if Durant can stay 100% the entire game.
-Texas will be one of the sexier picks to make a deep run, perhaps even as champs, within numerous brackets. If they win this game, most media pundits will put them in their Final Four.
-Ohio State will secure the overall #1-seed, and continue a massive winning-streak, if they can pull a win here.
-Wisconsin needs a win to become a #1, potentially replacing Ohio State (especially if the committee wants to keep UCLA as the #1 out West and push Wisconsin past the Buckeyes in the Midwest or South). Kammron Taylor must be related to Chris Rock, right?

Drama galore. It should be great.
Obviously EVERYONE on the bubble is rooting for the Tar Heels to dismantle the Wolfpack EARLY and for Arkansas to be toppled by the Gators in easy fashion. Of course, it never seems to happen that way.

Final Thought: If the CAA ends up being a one-bid conference…the entire committee should be fired instantaneously. Bias or not…it’s true to me.

See you at 6pm…

Weekend Observations from the R-I-C

Three days down in Richmond….one to go.

The Aeropostale CAA Men’s Basketball Championship will be decided between the 1-seed Virginia Commonwealth University and the 6-seed, last year’s Cinderella-dejour, George Mason.

This isn’t the first time these two have met in the CAA Title game either. Only four years ago, VCU narrowly defeated George Mason for Jeff Capel’s first-and-only CAA Title on a free-throw from Jesse Pellot-Rosa and a narrow miss on a Jai Lewis fadeaway attempt.

So how’d they get here this year?

Friday Observations
Admittedly absent from the day’s action, there were still plenty of reasons to be in attendance at the Richmond Coliseum for each of the four games. Georgia State took down William & Mary after a nail-biting finish which included a 3-point play by the Tribe with less than 5 ticks to go to take a 1-point lead AND then a fumbling-35 foot prayer by the Panthers’ sophomore star Leonard Mendez to win. Northeastern mercifully ended Delaware’s putrid season rather swiftly following the dramatics. In the night-session, expected winners Towson and George Mason took care of pesky opponents UNC-Wilmington & Just Missed UVA. Fortunately, for everyone in attendance, the UNC-Wilmington Seahawk no longer does a 30-second dance to the chorus of N’Sync’s Bye Bye Bye.

Saturday Observations
50% attendance was a better showing for the big guy. VCU sprinted to an early double-digit lead over Georgia State, withstanding one minor run before cruising to a spot in the semi-finals. Drexel wasted little time, riding CAA Defensive Player of the Year Frank Elegar throughout, in dispatching Northeastern. Old Dominion slipped up early with Towson, but held on late for a rather unconvincing 58-55 victory (farewell Gary Neal). George Mason struck their first major upset of the tournament, taking down 3-seed Hofstra behind solid outside shooting and Hofstra’s gunner Aguido being left all alone in the corner for a potential overtime-forcing trey at the buzzer. Not the end to Lenord Stokes' CAA-career he must have envisioned just a few nights earlier.

Sunday Observations
100% attendance. Every second. Boo ya. VCU, despite two offensive fouls for star point guard Eric Maynor in the first four minutes, took an impressive 10-point halftime lead against the rival Dragons. Despite Bruiser’s complaints for excessive contact, VCU’s press dogged the Dragons and aided in a lead inflating to as many as 18 points with 15 minutes to go. Drexel would cut the lead down to as low as 8 as VCU scored a whopping 2 points over the next 10 minutes. However in the end, VCU made enough key shots and BA Walker sunk several free throws to allow the Rams to become the first entrant into Monday Night’s title game. VCU’s press continues to impress, yet their problem with ball-handling, particularly sans-Manor, led to countless turnovers in a sloppy second-half. Drexel’s student section should be commended for a valiant effort, especially following several of Elegar’s monster jams, but were left with thoughts of the NIT lingering, rather than 100% confidence for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Further proof why I believe that Domonic Mejia is the most overrated player the CAA has seen in several years. George Mason stormed the court early and often against the Lady Monarchs, who seemed lazy and unmotivated for the majority of the game. After a 10-2 opening run, aided in large part by early 3s from Dre Smith and Folarin Campbell, Mason never looked back as they cruised to a double-digit lead only five minutes into the game. At no point could ODU trickle the lead closer than 6 , as the Patriots made just enough free throws (Will Thomas was abysmal at times from the ‘charity strip’) to clinch their second upset victory of the tournament. Coach Larranaga should be praised for an outstanding effort, as well as great ball-handling from the duo of Jordan Carter & Gabe Norwood. Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas put together a pair of 3-point plays to seal any last-gasp run from the seemingly overmatched and outworked Monarchs.

So there we have it. Our Aeropostale CAA Men's Basketball Championship game.
#1 VCU vs. #6 George Mason.

A lot of talk has already begun regarding the at-large chances for Drexel and ODU. Both have strong claims, but admittedly took big blows this weekend (especially ODU for their performances in both games). VCU, who is nowhere near a lock to win the title tomorrow night, staked another win against Drexel (both of their wins over the Dragons this year were away from the Siegel Center) which aided their strengthened at-large claim. Ironically enough, George Mason may yet again sneak into the Big Dance and become a very dangerous out.

Predictions? VCU…will show up. And they’ll win. It might not be pretty, but I seriously wonder if Dre Smith can have a similar outing like he had tonight. What’s the key you ask? It’s got to be two things in my not-so-humble opinion: the ball-handling from George Mason against the VCU press and VCU needing to take an early lead so juniors Michael Anderson and Will Fameni can attempt to keep up with the savvy and tournament-tested Will Thomas. Should be a lot of fun either way. And you know...Clement shall be there.

Dateline: Richmond, Virginia.

The destination…the Aeropostale CAA Championship from March 2^nd to March 5^th.

VCU's Anthony Grant hopes to capture
both regular-season and conference titles
during his first year in Richmond.

Seriously, if you can…be there.
This is one of the most underrated conference tournaments going today.

Just about every year, the first-round provides a stunning game on Friday Night. Just about every year, one of the big dogs gets bit by Cinderella…if only for a night. Just about every year, the crowd is packed (with far too many screaming fans from UNC-W). Just about every year, the championship game brings plenty of drama and a deserving champion.

Here’s hoping this year is no different.
So now it’s time to have a ramblin’ man’s ramblin’ preview. -

Let’s take a look at each of the teams, with a quick one-liner.
#1. VCU [24-6, 16-2]
-Easily the surprise of the year in-conference (picked pre-season to finish 6th). While the Bracketbuster-loss to MVC's Bradley may have them desperate for a title-game appearance for an at-large bid (at best), this is a hungry team that loves to run, shoots the deep-ball as well as anyone in the conference, and can hopefully use the Richmond-area advantage to land their first conference title in three years.

#2. Old Dominion [23-7, 15-3]
-As hot as any team in the country, Blaine Taylor’s crew has gotten real physical and must continue to ride captain Drew Williamson, just as they have throughout their recent 11-game winning streak, if they can punch an automatic ticket to the Big Dance. They come into Richmond as the team to beat, barely.

#3. Hofstra [22-8, 14-4]
-Perhaps a little too under the radar entering Richmond, following one of their best tournament runs in recent memory last year’s (which ended in a CAA Title game defeat to UNC-W), the Pride must ride CAA Player of the Year Loren Stokes (20.8 ppg) to earn their spot in March Madness. The Pride must have the poise and deft shooting touch necessary to control games in the closing minutes for their playmakers to secure close victories.

#4. Drexel [22-7, 13-5]
-A resume that has STACKED road wins [@Cuse,@Vermont,@Villanova] and yet they remain an underdog as a 4-seed. It will be a tough road, but the Dragons are healthy and Mejia is finally starting to sink key shots, after a season I would describe as nothign but hype. Look out for Bruiser’s Dragons though.

#5. Northeastern [12-18,9-9]
-Still getting used to the CAA, a .500-record shows that they played well enough in-conference to be considered trouble in the tournament.

#6. George Mason [15-14, 9-9]
-Never doubt the heart of a champion. 4 Days in Richmond is all it takes. This is not the type of team you want to face if they start making open shots and start feeling confident in themselves.

#7. Towson [14-16, 8-10]
-Gary Neal is the best ticket in town on Friday night. Despite hitting a few too many lumps early this season, Towson has started to make solid strides over the past five seasons in CAA-play.

#8. William and Mary [15-14, 8-10]
-Very young and very hard to read. Should be an entertaining team to check out on Friday night…but nothing more.

#9. Georgia State [10-19, 5-13]
-Wow, quite the drop off as of here. Yet, they almost stunned VCU to close the season (losing 70-72). They may get a re-match with the Rams on Saturday afternoon. Might not go nearly as well for them though.

#10. UNC-Wilmington [7-21, 4-14]
-Took a lot more lumps than many expected in a 'transition year'. Nevertheless, this squad won the CAA title last year and is the toughest 10-seed you’re likely to find in a conference tourney this season.

#11. James Madison [7-22, 4-14]
-There’s not much positive to talk about on the basketball court in Harrisonburg this year (or most years as of late for that matter). Take advantage of Friday night as much as you can against Jorge.

#12. Delaware [5-25, 3-15]
-An absolute embarrassment. Once a legit second-tier team, the Blue Hens were downright abysmal this season and have zero shot to win on Friday night. Zero.

So there we have it. I’ll be there most of the weekend (I attend VCU in case you didn’t already know). Hopefully I'll be enjoying the action much longer than a few others might suppose as a Ram-supporter (in true Clement-fasion, if we lose...I'm out of that Colesium immediately).

Prediction: Old Dominion is a wrecking crew lately. They manhandled Hofstra in Norfolk only a few weeks ago and wore VCU down in a key home-victory over the Rams only a month ago. Nevertheless, their physical style may lead to more than some wear and tear by Monday night. Look for VCU to escape with a narrow victory over Drexel and match up with their big-time rival, OD-Spew, for a classic at 7pm on ESPN for the CAA Title. Who will win? You know its bad luck if you pick your school to…see you Monday night.