Sweet 16 Preview: VCU v Florida State Analysis and Prediction

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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One half of the Southwest Region’s Sweet 16 bracket features two of the most unlikely Sweet 16 teams imaginable.

On one line is Virginia Commonwealth University, a team that was so uneven during the regular season that they were nothing more than a “First Four” team in this year’s tournament. Yet, despite the outrage over their selection, VCU stays standing.

Florida State garnered a 10 seed despite suffering a late season injury to their best player. Undeterred, the Seminoles have followed the lead of the nation’s best defense to the Tournament’s second weekend.

Who will win? The Sports Muse analyzes.

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Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: florida state, march madness 2011, sweet 16, vcu

Sweet 16 Schedule and Thursday Live Blog: Butler-Wisconsin, Duke-Arizona, BYU-Florida, UCONN-San Diego State

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Yep, we’re doing it again. We’re live blogging tonight’s NCAA Tournament action – the first night of Sweet 16 games – with various members of the MSF writing crew as well as our friends from Rumors and Rants.

So once the games start, head on over here and join us for the most riveting, irreverent, humorous and occasionally insightful basketball commentary you will find anywhere. I promise. (But I haven’t signed a letter of intent, so don’t hold me to it!)

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Email the author of this post: jerod@midwestsportsfans.com


Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: live blog, March Madness, sweet 16

Sweet 16 Preview: Butler v Wisconsin Game Info, Analysis, and Prediction

March 24, 2011 By 3 Comments
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Oftentimes, it’s easy to break down a game.

Team A has much more of an inside presence on both ends than Team B…so it will be a tough matchup for B.

Team A has nobody that can guard Player X on Team B…so it will be a tough matchup for A.

Many times, we line up the teams, compare individual players, maybe look at the bench and the coach, and come away with a good synopsis of what is likely to happen.

Then, there are the games like this year’s Sweet 16 matchup between Wisconsin and Butler.

[Read more...]

Jon Washburn @The_Dr_Twitch

Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: Bo Ryan, brad stevens, Butler Bulldogs, jordan taylor, mike breusewitz, Shelvin Mack, sweet 16, Wisconsin Badgers, wisconsin-butler

Why This Year’s Buckeye Tourney Run is More Magical than ’07

March 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
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Ohio State manhandled the upset-minded George Mason Patriots 98-66 on Sunday. That victory makes them another step closer to their first National Championship since 1960, a journey that will continue tomorrow night against Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

Although Ohio State was a two seed last year, they still weren’t a major contender for the national title. Their last serious run was back in the 2007 tournament when the Buckeyes received a #1 seed and were led by freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr., and upper classmen Jamar Butler and Ron Lewis. The Buckeyes made it to the Final Four that year and eventually made it to the championship game before losing to Florida.

Although that was a special championship run, it still doesn’t compare to the run the Buckeyes could potentially be on this season.

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Filed Under: Big Ten Basketball, CBB Tagged With: 2007 Ohio State Buckeyes, 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes, greg oden, Jared Sullinger, Mike Conley, Party in the OSU

2011 MLB Prections: NL Central – Reds look strong enough to repeat as champs

March 24, 2011 By 3 Comments
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In 2010, the Cincinnati Reds won the NL Central, and will look to repeat that feat again in 2011.

Today, we preview the NL Central and predict whether it will be the Reds heading to the playoffs yet again, or if the retooled Brewers or the consistent Cardinals can take the title.

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Filed Under: MLB Tagged With: chicago cubs, Cincinnati Reds, houston astros, milwaukee brewers, MLB, mlb predictions, nl central, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals

Gus Johnson Announcing Schedule & Great Moments in History With Gus Video

March 24, 2011 By 1 Comment
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If you’re like me, the first thing you do when the NCAA Tournament TV schedules come out is check to see which games the great Gus Johnson is doing.

With the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 coming this weekend, and the intensity and stakes increasing, we need Gus now more than ever – plus it’s the last weekend you’ll get to hear him calling college basketball this year.

So here are the games Gus is announcing this weekend, plus a bonus video from Funny or Die called “Great Moments in History with Gus Johnson.” It’s predictably outstanding.

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Email the author of this post: jerod@midwestsportsfans.com


Filed Under: CBB, Funny, March Madness Tagged With: elite 8, funny or die, gus johnson, march madness 2011, sweet 16

Sweet 16 Preview: UCONN v San Diego State Game Info & Pick

March 24, 2011 By 1 Comment
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The Sweet 16 kicks off tonight with much anticipated matchups Butler v Wisconsin, BYU v Florida, and Duke v Arizona. The fourth matchup, which will actually be the first one to tip off, seems to be flying under the radar, but it has the potential to be the most entertaining game of the bunch.

Jim Calhoun and his Big East Tournament champion Huskies take on Steve Fisher and his #2 seeded San Diego State Aztecs. There will be plenty of athleticism to go around in this one, plus two guys with very bright futures at the next level: Kemba Walker and Kawhi Leonard.

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Email the author of this post: jerod@midwestsportsfans.com


Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: connecticut, Jim Calhoun, kawhi leonard, kemba walker, march madness 2011, san diego state, steve fisher, sweet 16

Sweet 16: North Carolina v Marquette Analysis and Prediction

March 23, 2011 By 2 Comments
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The national consensus seems to be that the Ohio State-Kentucky matchup at 9:45 ET on Friday night is the most intriguing game of the Sweet 16. But the East Region appetizer that comes before OSU-UK isn’t bad itself.

The #2 seed North Carolina faces one of the two remaining Big East teams, #11 seed Marquette. The Tar Heels are the favorite, but in this preview I’ll explain why there is legitimacy to the growing buzz that Marquette could pull off another upset.

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Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: buzz williams, Marquette, North Carolina, north carolina-marquette, roy williams, sweet 16, unc

Sweet 16 Preview: Kansas v Richmond Analysis and Prediction

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Kansas entered the NCAA Tournament ranked #2 in the the national polls after winning their fifth Big 12 Tournament in the last six years, and much like previous years they became a favorite to win the Big Dance.

The Jayhawks make it back to the Sweet 16 after being upset by Northern Iowa in the second round in 2010. Kansas has what some would consider the easiest path the the Final Four considering the 10, 11, and 12 seeds are the teams still left in their bracket.

The 12 seed, Richmond, has returned to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998, defeating Vanderbilt and Morehead State to get there. The Spiders have won 16 of their last 18 games with the only loses coming against Temple and Xavier, who both made the NCAA Tournament.

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Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: Kansas Jayhawks, March Madness, richmond spiders, sweet 16

Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings – Catcher

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Here are the detailed player rankings for the Catcher position. Growing younger and deeper by the years, there is plenty of talent to be had all around. [Read more...]


Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports Tagged With: 2011, Catcher, fantasy baseball, player rankings

For Purdue basketball, is it “Boiler Down” after disappointing end to 2011? Not This Year.

March 23, 2011 By 3 Comments
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In the aftermath of my Boilermakers’ stunning loss to VCU on Sunday, someone asked me, “Twitch, how would you build the perfect college basketball team?”

Usually, I love questions like this because it opens up the door for lots of argumentation and debate. Unfortunately, this one didn’t. Why? Because of my answer.

“It’s already been done. The 2006 and 2007 Florida Gators.”

Now, if you are a fan of UNC, Duke, Kansas, Connecticut, or any of the other recent NCAA Champions, don’t get offended. Every team that wins a championship is built for success in one way or the other. But the fact is, only one team has repeated as champion in the past 20 years, and it had nothing to do with lack of competition and everything to do with how perfectly constructed the Gators were as a team.

For most of this season, Purdue fans thought that our Boilermakers we constructed in a way that made a national title a real possibility. And we were, before…

Well before something unfortunate happened that robbed us all of a chance to see just how good this team could be.

In this post, I analyze Purdue’s 2010-11 team within the context of recent past champions to see just how much of a title contender they really were – and if it’s possible for a team that finished in such a disappointing way to actually be celebrated for overachieving, not underachieving.

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Jon Washburn @The_Dr_Twitch

Filed Under: CBB, Uncategorized Tagged With: e'twaun moore, florida gators, jajuan johnson, Purdue Basketball, Robbie Hummel

Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings – Closers

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Ahh yes, closers. My favorite.

Before we dive in, I need to discuss a statistic I have referred to a lot in my SP rankings, and will be using again here in the closer rankings – strand percentage, or LOB%. Strand percentage is simple enough, it’s the percentage of runners that the pitcher strands on base. The theory behind it that makes it fantasy relevant is what I want to touch on.

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Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports Tagged With: 2011, closers, fantasy baseball, player rankings

MLB 2011 Prediction: NL West – Defending champs are the favorites; will any contenders emerge?

March 23, 2011 By 2 Comments
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As Spring Training winds down in Arizona and Florida, we are going division-by-division previewing the 2011 Major League Baseball season. Previously, we discussed the NL East and whether the Phillies can live up to enormous preseason expectations.

In this post I will talk about the National League West, home of the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

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Filed Under: MLB Tagged With: arizona diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, los angeles dodgers, major league baseball 2011, mlb 2011 predictions, san diego padres, San Francisco Giants

Sweet 16 Preview Podcast: The Steve and Brandon Sports Report

March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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The Sweet Sixteen is only a few day away, and everyone has their predictions for the upcoming games. Fellow MSF writer Brandon Onda and I have provided our predictions in a podcast.

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Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: NCAA Sweet Sixteen, Podcast

Sweet 16 Preview: BYU v Florida Analysis and Prediction – Can the Gators do what they could not do last year…contain Jimmer?

March 23, 2011 By 1 Comment
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BYU and Florida, who meet in the Sweet 16 tomorrow night, are absolutely no strangers to each other. Just last year they played a memorable first-round game that marked the first nationwide exposure of Jimmer Fredette (speaking of…click here to see a remarkable image of Jimmer), who scored 37 in BYU’s double-overtime win. The game marked BYU’s first tourney win since 1993 while Florida was appearing in the dance for the first time since their consecutive national titles in 2006-07.

Twelve months and one week later, the stakes and aspirations of each squad are much higher with just two wins separating each school from the Final Four and #1 seed Pittsburgh already eliminated. The oddsmakers currently have Florida as a three point pick, and they have the slight advantage of playing in the middle of SEC country. Can Jimmer and the Cougars overcome the odds to advance?

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Filed Under: CBB, March Madness Tagged With: Billy Donovan, byu, byu-florida, Florida, jimmer fredette, sweet 16
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