ACC Party

So, right now as things stand, there are10 teams guaranteed to be in the tournament be in the tourney by nature of autobids- Penn, Winthrop, Oral Roberts, Eastern Kentucky, Davidson, Creighton, Virginia Commonwealth, North Texas, Wright State, Belmont, Gonzaga, and Niagra. Tonight two more bids will be handed out, with the NEC Championship game between Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut State, and the Big Sky Final between Northern Arizona and Weber State. Almost all of the conference winners so far have been one or two seeds, which means good news for the bubble teams who are praying for every available spot to be open, as well as less competition from some of the best mid majors. Over the next few days all of the mid major conference tournaments are wrapping up, and today marks the beginning of the start of the Big Show, the Big Six tournaments. The Big East got under way today at MSG, with Villanova knocking out Depaul. Right now Syracuse and Connecticut are under way, with UConn looking to pull an upset with a 31-25 lead with 5 to go in the first half. The two other first round games get under way today, and tomorrow, all the action truly begins. With the Big Ten, ACC, Big East, and Pac-10 all getting under way from 12:00 to 3:00, each conference with four games tomorrow. We'll be running previews of a few of the tournaments today and tomorrw, starting with the ACC belowe

ACC- The favorite has to be UNC, even with Hansborough having to wear that mask after taking that hit to the face from Gerald Henderson. They came out on top after the regular season, in a down to the wire stretch with BC, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. The most noticeable thing about this team is their ability to play different styles of basketball, something they have in common with the rest of the league. They can work the ball down low to Hansborough, and have Wright and Lawson continually attack the basket. They can run the floor and use up three seconds of the shot clock before scoring. They have the ability to shoot the three extremely well. However, their one problem, as it has been noted frequently this season, is that they have almost too much depth. Most teams would love to have "too much depth" as their main weakness, but for this team, it has actually caused problems in terms of Coach Williams getting the players PT, and it has prevented the players from meshing together too well, as they are always playing with different guys. While UNC has the ability to beat anyone in the league, the right team on the right night can be a total mismatch for them and blow them out of the water.

Contenders- The two teams everyone is looking to right now in the ACC as teams that can make noise next week area Georgia Tech and Maryland. GT just came off of wins over Boston College and UNC, while Maryland has won a league best seven games in a row heading into the tournament, Both teams have first round games that they are expected to win(Miami for the Terps, Wake for Tech) and could continue their hot streak and roll right on through the tournament on their way to an automatic bid and a likely 5 or 4 seed. However, there are many other teams in the mix. Both Clemson and Florida State are playing for their tournament lives, as it will likely take a semifinal or beyond trip to propel them into the field of sixty five. Clemson, a lock after a 17-0 start, is facing its last chance to avoid one of the larger collapses by a certain tourney team in recent memory. Florida State lost their star point guard Toney Douglas to injury and went 1-5 without him, and indured some tough losses this season(by one to BC at home, on a buzzer beater three by Sean Marshall at BC). However, with All ACC player Al Thorton down low, the Seminoles have a chance in every game. Thorton, the ACC's leading scorer, exploded for 45 points against Miami in OT last weekend, keeping their season alive. Ironically, Clemson and FSU meet in the first round, with the winner getting a chance to salvage their season, while the loser is NIT bound.

The other three contenders for this years ACC crown are Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Boston College (the 2, 3, and 4 seeds respectively). Virginia, one of the suprises in the ACC this season, put together a remarkable season in which many considered they would have a down year. With wins over Duke, Clemson, Maryland, and Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers put together an impressive 11-5 record, led by a duo of star guards Sean Singeltary, 1st team All ACC, 18.8 ppg, and Jr,Reynolds, Second team all ACC, 18.0 ppg. With these two playing, Virginia has a chance to win against any one, as either of them can go big on any given night.

Virginia Tech, led by All ACC player Zabian Dowdell, streaked to third place in the ACC this season, with major support coming from the trio of Deron Washington, Jamon Gordon, and A.D Vassallo, each of who averaged at least 11 points a game this season, with Washington putting up 5.6 boards a game and Gordon leading the team with 4.6 apg. VT cooled off a bit after their hot 15-5 start, which included UNC, Duke, and Maryland, by going 5-5 in their last ten, which included a sweep by a bottom of the pack NC State. The Hokies have proven they can beat any team in the conference, but have to make sure they bring it everynight, as why they start to coasat through games, they lose some of that swagger they had running so nicely in the early goings. A first game exit for this team could be particurlarly dangerous, as every loss brings a loss of more and more confidence.

Finally, this brings me to the team that I'm pickin to win this whole thing (and not just because I live 15 minutes from campus either!)- the Boston College Eagles. The Eagles, you might remember, lost their dominant big man and the nations leading shot blocker, Sean Williams, midway through the season. However, with the inspired play of Naismith candidate Jared Dudley and the electric style of Tyrese Rice, the Eagles have been able to keep playing effectively and stay in the hunt for a deep tourney run. While they enter their quarterfinal matchup against the highest remaining team on a 1-4 freefall, I believe that Dudley, Rice, and Marshall, who accounted for all but 4 points in their Tourney clinching win at Clemson, will carry this team to the ACC Championshion and Beyond,

Picks
1st Round
Maryland over Miami
Florida State over Clemson
Duke over N.C. State.
Georgia Tech over Wake Forest

QuarterFinals
Boston College over Maryland
North Carolina over Florida State
Duke over Virginia
Georgia Tech over Virginia Tech

Semi Finals
Boston College over North Carolina
Duke over Georgia TEch

Final
Boston College 72, Duke 66

College Hoops Weekend review

An absolutely horrible job by Boston College today at Georgia Tech. They scored 2 points in the first 8 minutes, found an incredible amount of ways to turn the ball over, and were behind by double digits the enitre game without anyone even coming close to step up. What seemed like a guaranteed tournament team just a few days ago now has to make sure it wins its opener of the ACC tournament just to assure itself of a slot in the field 0f 65. While they are all but in, there is a chance if they lose badly to a lower echelon ACC team. They nabbed the fourth seed and first round bye in the conference tourney, but could very easily draw on the rise Georgia Tech or Maryland teams and lose, putting their hopes on the line. If they play the way they played today in the ACC tournament, they might just be NIT bound. Lets hope that Dudley or Marshall or Rice steps up and carries us into the semifinals, which should get us into the field.

As for seeding, if BC does, as expected, get into the Big Dance, they could be looking at a whole bunch of different seeds depending on how they finish. Lose in the first round, and were probably looking at an 8 or a 9 seed. Win one game over a not bottom of the conference team, and I think that were most likely a seven. Win two games and get to the finals, it could go up to a six or even a five. Winning the conference tournament could, under extremely odd circumstances, propel us to a four seed, with our solid RPI(30) Strength of schedule(11) and record vs. RPI Top 50 opponents (7-7). However, it would take a lot of other teams falling and BC beating the very best the ACC has to offer. I think that we will probably end up as a six or seven seed, but am crossing my fingers for a five seed. We have beaten too many good teams to be given an eight seed.

A few other issues-In the Missouri Valley today, Creighton clinched the leagues automatice bid with a win over already tournament bound Southern Illinois. The Salukis, ranked as high as 15th in the country currently, had sealed up their bid by just getting to the finals, while Creighton was most likely in anyway, but made sure today. This leaves an interesting question for a few other teams in the MVC. 2 tourney teams from last year are already out all but out (Wichita State, Northern Iowa), leaving the league to ponder whether its Bradley and Missouri State, its third and fourth place teams respectively, will get in. Bradley's bubble has probably burst, as its all right 42 RPI is offset by a a lackluster 20-12 record, including sweeps by Northern Iowa and Missouri State. While they had only one truly bad loss(at Tennesse Tech), they failed to get it done against the best of its own conference, going 3-9 against the Top 6 of the conference. As for Missouri State, their 39 RPI and strength of schedule are respectable, and, coupled with wins over Wisconsin and Winthrop, should be enough to get them in, barely.

In the Colonial, a potential four seed conference, George Mason knocked off number two seed Old Dominion to put themselves in a position to earn an automatic bid with a win over the conferences regular season champion, Virginia Commonwealth. Old Dominion, which would have solidified a bid with a win over GMU, now has to sweat out Selection Sunday, hoping that their win over Georgetown and 33 RPI is enough to get them in. Virginia Commonwealth is probably in regardless of Monday nights title games results. But the team that VCU beat in the semifinals, Drexel, is extremely close to having their bubble burst. Though they can boast non conference wins over Villanova and Syracuse, the Dragons have an ugly 99th ranked schedule and were swept by VCU and Old Dominion. The Colonials fifth potential at large team, Hofstra, is more or less done due to their 70 RPI and lack of quality wins.

More updates this week as conference tournaments play themselves out and the Big Time Tourneys get under way.

Quality Saturday in Basketball

What a day yesterday in college basketball! Notes on some of the games...

UCLA-Washington
Nice game by Washington. Definatley have under achieved this year...especially with that 7 foot freshman Spencer Haws. He just needs to bulk up a little and I'm sure he'll be up there with Greg Oden. Although UCLA has lost a few games to unranked non conference teams (Washington, West Virginia), I still am positive they should be a top seed if not THE top seed. I'd love to see them play OSU, and beat them! Top seeds right now, to me, are UCLA, OSU, UNC, and Kansas.

VMI-Winthrop
Quality Big South Conference Championship game! I was pretty much pulling for VMI the whole way through, becuase, in all likelihood, Winthrop would have gotten in as an at-large bid. This was the first time all season that I had seen VMI play, and, having heard about their 100+ points per game, I was looking forward to a high scoring affair. However, it turned out that they had slowed down their offense and turned up their defense just for the conference tournament. I guess it goes to show that good offense wins games, good defense wins championships (or at least gets you to the title game). Also, why isn't Reggie Williams getting ANY consideration for player of the year? I know, I know, he's just a product of their system, but nobody expected him to score so much and be so good!

WATCH OR ELSE

Do you have Comcast?

Do you like good TV?

More specifically, FOX TV?

If you answered yes to the above questions go to Channel 232 NOW. I don't think I need an explination.

Wife Swap

Did anyone watch WifeSwap last night? You know, the show where they take two polar-opposite families and they make them switch moms for two weeks? Well last night's involved one family whose mother was a professional organizer switching places with another family whose family dressed, talked, and lived like pirates. Yep, you read that right. Pirates. Does anyone really live like that? According to the show, they make their living teaching "piratatude". Who wants to learn piratitude? And more importantly, who would want to PAY for piratitude? How do these people make a living? Plus, these pirates had lots of "mateys" who lived nearby and engaged in similar pirate-festivities. Since when do several families who all dress up like pirates live near each other? Is there a special development project I should know about? Just please, remind me to never live near there.

Over-Analyzers

Does anyone else but me hate over analyzers? Like those stupid guys on Sports Center (yes, I'm talking to you, Chris Berman, Ed Werder, and any guy on College GameNight...I would include Barry Melrose, but nobody knows enough about the NHL to actually comprehend what he's talking about.) who think they know everything and make predictions about every game and consider every stupid stat, like road wins when playing at a retractable-roof stadium at an altitude of 92.5 feet or more while on a 3 game win streak when the opponents kicker is a lefty. WHO CARES? And, more importantly, does this statistic tell us anything? Will the situation ever be applicable again? If it is, I'll eat my hat! Check out this page:

Ahh never mind I can't find it, but pretty much its a page about the Colts-Patriots AFC Championship game, analyzing EVERY POSSIBLE SITUATION, like while on a win streak of 4 or more, or while playing in a temperature controlled zone vs. non-division but same conference opponents. And those are even the most obscure. There's literally about 200 game situtaions. I'm very, very, very sorry for the person who was forced to waste away a week of thier life looking up those usless statistics. I hope your soul was not completely crushed.

CONTEST

Here at Make It Rain were holding our first promotional contest. Okay, Eager McBeaver, here it is:

Come up with an original reason of why we named this blog Make It Rain. Winner recieves less than $500!

Word of Mouth

Incase you haven't noticed yet, we really haven't gotten much publicity so far...maybe because we don't geel like wasting $ on advertising? So, um, if you're one of our, um, lots of readers, please tell your, um, friends. Gracias!

Spring Training vs. March Madness

Today, while channel surfing between several great college bball games, I stumbled across the Red Sox and Phillies playing in Florida. At first, I tried to force myself to watch, saying to myself "It's your two favorite teams playing against each other in your favorite sport!" But after a couple minutes, I realized how unammusing and slow the game was (just today) compared to the thrillers just a few stations away. Not that I don't like baseball (to the contrary, I love it), but I feel like it's just being thrust upon us at a bad time...conference tournaments are about to get into full swing, so why waste a perfectly good channel on a Saturday afternoon? I just can only hope that by the time April 2nd gets here I'm itching to turn to NESN.

*One note: I've never been, but according to my sources, actually BEING at City of Palms Park is very, very different than watching it on TV 1000 miles away!

College Hoops on Wednesday

These are some game notes/observations from a big night in college hoops on Wednesday

Wow, what a game last night between Texas A&M and Texas. Just an extremely well played game by two teams who are looking more and more like Final Four contenders as each game goes by. Obviously, Kevin Durant and Acie Law IV are the two leaders on both teams and are frontrunners for player of the year, but the player who really impressed me was Texas point guard DJ Augustine, who was all over the place last night, scoring improbable baskets, directing the offense and continuosly attacking. He is someone who appears to be heading straight towards the NBA in the near future.

More importantly, this showdown was just one of the great games that has happened in the Big XII this season. Just off the top of my head, I can name several of the best games of the year that happened in this amazing conference; Texas-Oklahoma State, Texas A&M-Kansas, Texas Tech-Nebraska, Texas Tech-Oklahoma State(I and II), and last night's thriller. These games all came down to the last possessions and not only were incredibly dramatic, but also included some of the highest levels of play this season by an array of dominant players and teams. Jarrius Jackson, Durant, Augustine, Law, Mario Boggan and JamesOn Curry, Julian Wright, Brandon Rush- all have dominated games throughout the season and have invaribly made the Big XII the most exciting and entertaining conference to watch. Even in nonconference matchups, there have been thrillers and especially memorable matchups-Texas (and Oklahoma State) vs. Tennessee, Kansas and Florida, Texas LSU, and others. While the Pac-10 may be the best conference, and the ACC is the deepest, no conference in America has produced a greater quantity of entertaining and well played games this season.

A few more thoughts on a night in College Hoops

-I have absolutely how good Duke is- They could make the Final Four or lose in the first round and I wouldn't be suprised

-Speaking of the ACC, Maryland is starting more and more to look like a team that is destined to make a run deep into the tournament. They have multiple players that can take over the game(Ibekwe, Strawberry) and have proven they can win anywhere.

-This is actualyl from two nights ago, but Florida has to step up its game RIGHT NOW! Not only are they in danger of losing a number one seed, they need some wins just to build some confidence before they head into the tourney- nothing can hurt a team more than a lack of confidence

-Number one Seeds right now- Kansas, UCLA, Ohio State, Florida. I have to keep Florida there, as it appears that no other team wants its (I'm talking to you, UNC and Wisconsin).

Georgi Tech-UNC

Hmm... Georgia Tech vs UNC...Gotta root for UNC in this game, while a chance for first place in the acc is great, playing a pumped up Georgia Tech team in front of a rabid crowd would be extremel difficult, and if BC loses this one, and exits in the first round of the conference tourney(unlikely but possible), our seed could really drop. Some have claimed that our seed doesn't really matter, and that all that is important is how we match up with any team. Regardless, a higher seed couldn't hurt, and I would much rather have a 6,5 or even 4 seed and play a mid major(winners of weak conferences like the southern, horizon, ohio valley) or a weaker Big 6 conference team, like michigan, georgia, villanova, then get a 7,8,9 and play tougher team around the same seed( tennessee, texas tech, michigan state.

Welcome

Welcome to Make it Rain, a sports blog about pretty much anything. It's run my me, Chuck, and my brother, Tim. More to come later...