A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
In episode #10 of The Bottoms Line College Hoops Talk Podcast, host Andy Bottoms is joined by Troy Machir of Ballin’ Is a Habit to discuss all the latest news and events in college basketball.
This week, they touch on several important items from the season’s first week, including the many upcoming early season tournaments. Among the teams and conferences discussed: Vandy, Michigan State, the MAC, MVC, and WAC, as well as Duke and UCLA to name a few.
Each day brings new rumors about schools that are prepared to leave one conference or accept an invitation from another. And while no school has moved yet this year (the SEC invitation to Texas A&M is still pending), there is no lack of speculation about what might happen.
At this time, when everyone is looking ahead to 16-team superconferences and/or conferences that are geographically abhorrent and make no effort to preserve traditional rivalries, let’s look back at where these conferences started and where they have come.
In Major League Baseball, teams in the race looking to make a late-season push will make a deadline deal to improve their roster. Case in point: the Phillies acquiring Cliff Lee.
In the NFL, teams looking to overcome longshot playoff odds get inventive with their playbook, like the Miami Dolphins did last year in using the Wildcat to power them to a playoff berth.
In college basketball, coaches will often loosen the reins on talented freshman during the second half of the season in an effort to unleash the potential of their teams, hoping it sparks a March run.
In college football, our national paragon of amateurism and integrity, schools and conferences hoping to achieve their postseason goals actually seek areas outside of their actual performance on the field to get a leg up on their competition.
Today’s example is Boise State, via the WAC, which has reportedly hired a PR firm to help the Broncos in their quest to make the BCS.
