Baylor Earns Perfection

The Baylor Lady Bears completed a perfect season in Denver Tuesday night. It just happened to be the national championship game against Notre Dame.

Baylor dominated women’s basketball this season and it dominated The Fighting Irish too with a convincing 80-61 victory.

The Lady Bears became the first Division I team to amass 40 victories in a season. They joined UCONN and Tennessee as the only other teams in women’s basketball to finish a season undefeated.

As usual, 6-8 center Brittney Griner stole the headlines in the title game. The junior scored 26 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and recorded five blocks.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey has now led her team to two national championships. The other was in 2006.

The bad news for women’s teams is Baylor could be just as potent next season. Griner said this week she would return for her senior year.

Iowa State's Royce White Declares for the NBA

The Iowa State men’s basketball team rarely has a ‘one and done’ player, but the Cyclones have one this year in Royce White.

White said yesterday at a press conference that he would enter the NBA Draft. He added that Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg basically told him to go. Hoiberg was an NBA player and executive.

White’s stock rose in the NCAA Tournament. He performed well in games against UCONN and Kentucky. He scored 23 points again the Wildcats before fouling out.

According to draft experts, White is projected as middle to late first round pick. White played point forward for Iowa State. I doubt if he will play that position in the pros. White is not your typical power forward with soft hands and strong ball-handling skills.

I am somewhat surprised Cyclone fans are taking White’s news so well. Was it because he helped Iowa State become a national conversation again and help lead them back to the NCAA tournament?

White will definitely have two challenges in the NBA. Can he become a better than 50 percent free throw shooter and can he overcome the fear of flying?

Cyclone fans hope White will pass both tests.

Iowa State Gains More Respect

Iowa State knocked the defending national champion UCONN out of the NCAA tournament last night 77-64.

Nationally, most people were surprised. Nationally, not many people know about this Iowa State basketball team. People do know that Fred Hoiberg came back to coach his alma mater and it’s a good story.

But maybe people will realize Iowa State can play basketball. Was last night’s game an upset? Not really. The Cyclones were the No. 8 seed; Huskies were No. 9. But maybe it’s my Midwestern up bringing, but I sensed East Coast bias.

How could UCONN even in a down year for the Huskies lose to Iowa State? Doesn’t UCONN have better players? Iowa State who?

Iowa State landed a punch early and UCONN never recovered. The funny thing was after the game the UCONN bunch was surprised. Maybe the Huskies should have been embarrassed because they were clearly outplayed.

Iowa State placed four starters in double figures. Chris Allen, the NCAA veteran, led the Cyclones with 20 points.

The Cyclones feed off center Royce White and the three point shot. Both were clicking Thursday night. Game over for UCONN.

Iowa State plays No. 1 Kentucky in the next round. The Wildcats took notice of Iowa State’s abilities. The Cyclones are playing like a team that doesn’t want to go home. Even if the next opponent is a major favorite to win the entire tournament.

The Best Part of the NCAA Tournament

I absolutely love the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament. So, today and tomorrow is my time.

You have 32 games over two days. If you are hearty enough, you can watch basketball basically from 11 a.m. (Iowa time) to midnight both days. These are when the upsets are the most meaningful. You have definite low seeds defeating highly seeds. Cinderella actually develops names. You have big-names schools going home wondering how they just got beat.

Everybody’s wondering who will be this year’s Butler or VCU. Wait, it might be VCU again. The Rams are back in the tournament.

I will focus on two games tonight: Baylor-South Dakota State and Iowa State-UCONN. They should be good games. And if the team I cheer for gets behind (even a large margin), I’ll remember anything is possible. Just ask Iona losing to BYU the other night after holding a 25-point lead.

Enjoy the basketball folks.

It's Been Too Long for Iowa State

The Iowa State Cyclones return to the NCAA tournament this season after a long absence. Iowa State last trip to the Big Dance was back in 2005.

Cyclone fans agree the wait has been too long. That might make this trip much sweeter.

Iowa State’s story is a feel good one in the college game. Former Cyclone star player Fred Hoiberg leads his alma mater back to the Big Dance with a bunch of transfers in only Hoiberg’s second season.

But the NCAA didn’t give Iowa State a break in the seeding. The Cyclones are No. 8 and play the defending national champion UCONN Huskies (No. 9). Obviously, the Huskies aren’t a national title threat this go around, but they are capable of winning some games in the tournament. And the No. 8-9 game is always a tough matchup because the committee deems the teams quite equal. And another difficult aspect this year is the winner gets the No. 1 overall seed Kentucky in round No.3.

It’s great that my alma mater is going back to the tournament. But I hope the Cyclones aren’t just happy with that. They need to go and collect wins and gain more national respect. The tournament is more than being happy to gain the field and pick up a participation ribbon. Once the tournament starts, people only remember you for the wins.

Baylor is Basketball This Season

It says something when your men’s basketball team is 9-0 and it isn’t even the best squad at your university.

The Baylor men’s team is indeed 9-0, but Baylor’s women’s team is 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.

The Lady Bears knocked off No. 2 UCONN last night 66-61 in Waco. Brittney Griner, the Lady Bear’s 6-8 post player, tallied 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds while blocking nine shots. Another stellar performance for a stellar player.

You think Griner could hold her own against some college men players? I say, no doubt.

Griner and her teammates are grabbing some serious ink in Waco and around the country. The Lady Bears played in front of a sold out crowd last night. The Baylor’s men team cannot even claim a sell out yet this season.

The Baylor men’s team is somewhat quietly putting together a solid season. The Bears beat BYU in Utah last Saturday coming back from a 13-point first-half deficit. The win may improve Baylor’s No. 6 and No. 7 national rankings.

But the Baylor men’s team has a long way to go to top the women’s squad. The Lady Bears are on top of the world literally and figuratively these days.

Strange Geography

The Big East Conference announced this week that it is expanding. I’m fine with the league wanting to try to survive in this weird conference realignment business.

For my international readers, the Big East is largely an East Coast conference centered in highly populated areas. The league is best known for its basketball members such as UCONN, Syracuse and Georgetown.

What the conference isn’t known until now is its far reaching national scope. Believe it or not, San Diego State is one of the new members. San Diego State is about as far west in the United States as you can travel. It’s on the West Coast. My geography tells me the West Coast is long way from the East Coast. Folks, you must jump three time zones to get from Point A to Point B.

I find it hard to understand how San Diego State thinks this will benefit its school. Think about the travel costs. Think about the travel time. Think about the additional class time the student athletes will miss.

San Diego State isn’t going to the Big East of old. It’s not a glamour league anymore. It’s been stripped and it’s like I said earlier in survival mode. But the Mountain West (where San Diego State’s membership resides) is shaky too and I guess the West Coast folks believe regardless of the distance, the Big East provides more stability.

I just hope San Diego State has a monster map because it will need one.

A Woeful National Title Game

I don’t blame you if you watched part of the Butler-UConn title game last night and then switched your TV over to ‘I Love Lucy’ reruns. I would have said goodnight to the game too, but I was watching at a friend’s house.

This game was simply woeful. There was little scoring in the first half and just a little more in the second half.

Butler probably couldn’t have hit a shot if it was shooting at two baskets. The Bulldogs were an ice cold 12-64 from the field (18/8%) and only 9-33 (27.3%) from the three-point line. Butler shot so many bricks it could have built a house.

UConn made enough shots for the victory. The Huskies weren’t exactly lighting it up either with 34.5 % (19-55) shooting and just 1-of 11 from three-point territory.

You keeping thinking somebody would start making some shots, but it was only wishful thinking. At the start of the night, you would have never imagined the winning team scoring just 53 points and the losing team getting only 41.

So this game will quickly pass from memory. Ten years from now, nobody will ever bring this thing up again. And that’s good.

Butler must be pretty depressed this morning as the reality continues to make its mark. The Bulldogs seemed so confident and so ready to play. Then all they did was thud, thud and thud.

It was sad.

Go Butler Go

Let me be perfectly clear: I will not cheer for UConn in tonight’s college basketball finale. No way, no how. I cannot do it.

I cannot cheer for a Big East Conference team. Call it bias if you must. By the way, UConn is an east coast team and that doesn’t score points with me either. You want further justification. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is in trouble with the NCAA.

Now that I have the negativity out of the way, let’s talk about Butler.

This is the second straight year the Bulldogs have played in the final game. Last year, they were the Cinderella team. This year, they have played like they belong in the club. Butler needs to finish the job and take the title back to basketball-rich Indiana.

As I have stated in the past, this Butler outfit displays blue collar. Style is not a consideration. It is a team in the true sense of the word. Nobody cares who scores the points. Play tough defense, score enough points and go home with the victory.

Brad Stevens should win another coach-of-the-year award. He’s the driver of this bus and knows how and when to pull the right buttons. Simply, the guy can coach. And he does it with class. You won’t see him beating his chest telling the world he’s something wonderful. As I like to say, it’s hard not to cheer for the guy.

So come on, Butler, do your school proud. Finish the job and cut down the nets. Most of the America is cheering for you.

Talking Final Four

The college basketball season has come down to four teams: Cinderella Virginia Commonwealth, Butler, Kentucky and UConn. Sixty-Four teams have already gone home unhappy. Two more will join them today and then one more Monday.

So this suddenly long and grueling season is down to only two games. Remember the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday tournaments? They seem so long ago. Even the first week of the NCAA tournament feels like history.

CBS must think the Kentucky-UConn Final Four game will attract the most viewers since it is the nightcap contest. Maybe CBS is counting on those East Coast television sets and Kentucky’s basketball tradition. Some say this winner will take Monday night’s game too.

But if I could only watch one game, I would choose Virginia Commonwealth and Butler. The Rams are playing for history. If they can win tonight and the championship game, they will have collected seven tournament victories. No team has ever done that.

The fact that Virginia Commonwealth is the Cinderella team is reason enough to view this game. The Rams have stolen the routing interest of many Americans and they want to see them go all the way.

Others still favor Butler. This former Cinderella still garners a strong following. The Bulldogs are playing their best basketball of the season and it’s no stretch that they could win two more games.

So prepare for championship basketball. Who do you think will win it all?

Final Four Heavyweights

Despite the mid-majors (Butler and Virginia Commonwealth) receiving most of the Final Four attention, the heavyweights are still around.

UConn and Kentucky are household college basketball teams and they will represent the establishment Saturday in Houston.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun has built a consistent winner, something that wasn’t happening before he arrived in Storms, Connecticut. His tenure has been far from blissful however. NCAA sanctions for rule violations continue over Calhoun’s head.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has taken three teams to the Final Four with UMass and Memphis being the other two squads. People have never said Calipari cannot coach. His best performance may have been this season. This group returned zero starters from the 2009-10 Kentucky team. But like Calhoun, Calipari has had trouble with the NCAA. Unlike Calhoun, he has not been charged with anything.

Guards usually highlight NCAA play this time of year and the UConn-Kentucky tussle will feature a couple of good ones. UConn’s Kemba Walker has taken over games in the tournament and is scoring 23.4 points per game. On the Kentucky sideline is freshman Brandon Knight. This kid is a point guard who can score. He’s at 17.3 per game.

But my favorite player in this game is Kentucky center Josh Harrellson. At 6-10, 275, he is what they say in basketball, a wide body. He was virtually unknown coming into the tournament, but America is taking a liking to this blue collar worker. He has put up decent numbers this season averaging 7.6 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Here’s hoping the old Kentucky home can gain the victory Saturday and send the final and 11th Big East team home.

The Big East is a Big Bust

The Big East Conference isn’t so high and mighty after all.

The league entered the NCAA basketball tournament with 11 entries out of 16 teams. Only two teams remain in Marquette and UConn. That means nine clubs didn’t even survive the first weekend of the tournament. Granted, a couple games pitted conferences foes against each other, but this is still significant.

Even the two teams left have a difficult path to the Final Four. I don’t think Marquette will defeat North Carolina in the next round. If it does, Marquette gets the Ohio State-Kentucky winner. If UConn defeats San Diego State (and that’s a big if), the Huskies play the Duke or Arizona.

I guess bias cannot even protect a team once it plays the game. Maybe, the NCAA brass will reconsider its Big East thinking for future NCAA tournaments. As I stated in an earlier blog, no conference should receive 11 bids.

Some of those bids should go to smaller schools in smaller conferences. Who cares if the Big East No. 10 team plays the No. 7 Big Ten team?

We can only hope this lesson has been learned.

The Ugly Side of College Sports

The news cycle lately seems full of bad news in college sports.

It’s not about injuries but the age-old cheating on campuses across the nation.

Today, I read about a possible investigation at Baylor regarding a recruit. Yesterday, I read about a sports agent who said he gave money to numerous players. The fallout of North Carolina football continues. UCONN admits violations in its men’s hoops program.

The sad thing is we have become accustomed to these incidents and hardly blink anymore. We would rather talk about games and winners and losing on the field. But these incidents influences games and winners and losers on the field.

Maybe the NCAA needs to inflict harsher penalties on universities. Plus, maybe it should suspend more coaches who are ultimately responsible for their programs.

Cheating continues to get worse and we never hear obviously about the ones who don’t get caught. It’s time for somebody somewhere to stand up for integrity.

Integrity may not receive the flashy headlines, but it is simply the right thing to do.

Is UCONN's Success Good for Women's Basketball?

The debate continues. Is the University of Connecticut's dominance in women's basketball good for the sport?

These gals are head-and-shoulders above others in the women's basketball world. UCONN has won 78 consecutive games and wrapped up its second straight undefeated season earlier this month.

UCONN's success has kept women's college basketball in the headlines on a consistent basis. That is a good thing because let's be frank, the women's game still lacks much interest compared to the men's game.

But on the downside, has UCONN's run discouraged the competitiveness of the game? Are teams going into games really thinking, "What the use against these gals we will just lose anyway"? Are women's college basketball fans tired of UNCONN's streak and thus pay little attention these days?

It also begs another question. Should UNCONN be penalized for being good? Should the NCAA reduce the number of scholarships in the women's game?

These are difficult questions. Meanwhile, UNCONN will continue the march. UCONN is well within sights of the longest undefeated streak in all of college basketball--88 by the UCLA men's teams.

Can these gals accomplish that feat? I believe they can.

But until UCONN loses again, the major question will linger. Perspective determines what side you are on regarding this one.

So, is UCONN's success good for women's college hoops?