March Madness concludes 1st week amid carnage and chaos - Sweet 16 left standing

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After the first two rounds the NCAA March Madness has all the makings of the Mad Hatters Tea Party with upsets aplenty and about half the games last second thrillers and the other half last second laughers.

So what team is playing far better than their NCAA seeding?  Kentucky, of course, along with Louisville.  These are the defending national champions of the last two years and one of the greatest rivalries in America yet they were seeded 8th, Kentucky and 4th, Louisville.

I think there is a media bias against Kentucky teams most likely because they are dominant forces in basketball.  Certainly it is not from the fact Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky although didn't the Civil War end about 150 years ago?  Or not?

Anyway the tournament selection committee clearly does not like freshman dominated teams any more than the Associated Press basketball poll.  John Calipari's "One and Done" coaching philosophy of recruiting freshman who will jump to the pros rather than finish college is quite controversial to say the least.

So in the last AP poll of the season before the tournament Kentucky was no where to be found among the top 25.  Even the USA Today/ESPN experts poll had Kentucky far down at number 21.  Louisville fared better finishing number 5 in AP and 4 in USA Today/ESPN.

So there are 4 number one seeds, one from each region.  One might think the top four teams in the rankings would be the top four teams.  Louisville was in the top four in USA Today/ESPN and #5 in AP so should have been seeded 1, or 2 at worst since the top 8 teams should be number 1 or 2.  Louisville landed number 4.  What is that all about?

Ashley Judd loves UK

As for UK who did not even make the top 25 in the minds of the sports writers, a week ago they lost to the number one team in America, Florida, in the SEC conference championship in the last second 61-60 and a week later they beat Wichita State, seeded #1 and ranked #2 in the nation, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, 78-76 ending the Shockers quest for a national title.

No doubt it will be remembered as one of the best fought games in NCAA tournament history and both teams fought valiantly and could have won but the Kentucky Wildcats did win.  What the newspaper writers forgot to mention, however, when telling us how great Kentucky has become in spite of having all freshmen as starters, is they didn't even think enough of UK to put them in the top 25 and they seeded them way down at 8th.

When was the last time an unranked team played the number 1 and 2 teams within a week losing by 1 point and winning by two points?  Are you kidding me?  The people doing the polls for national rankings and tournament seedings should go into politics where everybody knows the polls are nonsense.

Now the press hype will turn to the Kentucky - Louisville game next Friday at Indianapolis, just across the border from Kentucky.  Not only is it s bitter rivalry but both coaches, John Calipari of UK and Rick Pitino of Louisville have won national championships.  In fact both won national championships for UK, then Pitino won another last year for Louisville.  It will be entertaining.

Other notable survivors doing quite well were Arizona and Virginia, both seeded #1.  Florida struggled but also advanced.  There are still 2 #11 seeds, 1 #10 seed and 1 #8 seed left in the Sweet 16.  Giant killer Dayton, coached by Archie Miller, brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller, is the most valid Cinderella team and if both teams keep winning the brothers would meet in the championship game.

Before the season started I wrote a profile on Kentucky basketball saying we should watch both schools and both the men's and women's teams this year.  So here we are at tourney time and UK and Louisville are about to square off in a classic quarter-final battle to see who gets to the semi-finals while the women's teams, both UK and Louisville, survived the women's first rounds and both are seeded #3, a testament to Kentucky basketball and of course the foresight of the Coltons Point Times.

Just kidding...

PS  As much as I like the UK Wildcats, my heart remains with the Arizona Wildcats where long ago I once played.

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Busted - The Millions in the Billion Dollar Bracket

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With a huge sigh of relief the Buffett boys and their insurance companies escaped paying out a billion dollars for a perfect NCAA bracket and the end came astoundingly fast.  Before the first round of 64 was over the 15 million entries were through, finished, done, busted.

For all the excitement the end came just 25 games into the 32 first round games.  Not a single entry made it through the first round.

According to contest officials, when Memphis beat George Washington in the 25th game it was over.

Can the Gators be stopped?

So whether the odds were 1 in 128 billion or 1 in 9.2 quintillion it didn't really make any difference how many zeros were added, no one was going home with the goods.
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March Madness Triggers END of DAYS for Pools

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Day 1 of March Madness and already heart attacks have tripled, divorces are certain to skyrocket, liquor sales have doubled and David not only knocked the Hell out of Goliath but also out of about 99% of all the people expecting to win the Buffett Billion Dollar Pool and thousands of other pools requiring perfection.

Remember these names, Dayton, Harvard and North Dakota State, they are the villains who stopped you from landing on Easy Street for the rest of your lives.  In a matter of about two hours 99% of the millions in pools around the nation were stopped dead in terms of achieving the perfect bracket so you all can now sit back and enjoy some of the best, most unpredictable basketball in modern NCAA history.

Here is an AP story that says it all.

NCAA upsets crush bracket hopes

By JOHN MARSHALL (AP Basketball Writer) 12 hours ago AP - Sports

SAN DIEGO (AP) — So you were confident in your bracket, hoping to win the office pool, maybe get lucky and take down that $1 billion prize Warren Buffett is offering for a perfect run of picks.

One game in and ... done.

Way to go, Dayton.

Thanks for piling on, Harvard.

And North Dakota State — you've got to be kidding.

The first full day of the NCAA tournament got off to what has become its usual scream-at-the-TV start on Thursday, opening with three upsets that sent a wave of crumpled brackets — at least 95 percent missed at least one game before the tournament was 12 hours old — flying from Buffalo to San Diego. By the end of the night, fewer than 1 percent of brackets remained unblemished in contests by ESPN and CBSSports.com.

"Being bounced from the billion THAT early definitely made me feel some type of way," said Marcus Arman of Portland, Ore. "I can tell you this: I will not be supporting the city of Dayton in any shape, form or fashion so long as my foam finger still points upward."

Dayton, the No. 11 seed in the South Regional, got it started in the first game of the 64-team bracket, knocking off sixth-seeded Ohio State 60-59 in Buffalo, N.Y.

A few hours later, No. 12 East seed Harvard had its David-vs-Goliath thing working for the second straight year, taking down fifth-seeded Cincinnati 61-57 in Spokane, Wash.

Two upsets, and almost everyone shooting for perfection was eliminated before they got home from work.

North Dakota State, No. 12 in the West, finished off the day of dead pools by outlasting fifth-seeded Oklahoma 80-75 in Spokane's second upset of the day.

Thanks for playing everyone.

With Dayton's win, about 83 percent of the brackets in Yahoo's Tourney Pick 'Em game were one and done, perfection flushed in 40 minutes. Wins by Harvard and North Dakota State only figured to add to the number of disappointed would-be billionaires once the official numbers were released.

It was a 9.2 quintillion-to-1 pipe dream to begin with, and Buffett has to like his chances even more now.
"Yesssssssssss HARVARD!!!!!!! Messing up a lot of peoples chances at $1 billion lol," former Harvard and current Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin said on Twitter.

At CBSSports.com, Dayton took out 81 percent of the poolers in the bracket challenge. By the time the Bison roamed over the Sooners in the evening, 0.4 percent of the brackets were still perfect.

Of the 11 million brackets in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, over 80 percent had Ohio State advancing to the next round. That's about 8.8 million brackets with a blemish after one game.

And to the 2.2 percent that had the Buckeyes going all the way to the Final Four: Oops!

Through 12 games, there were 41,315 perfect brackets out of the original 11 million — or about 0.3 percent.

This, of course, is nothing new.

We are in the era of upsets, where seedings and status have little bearing on the bracket.

A year ago, not a single person of the 11 million who entered on ESPN's website was perfect after a first day filled with upsets. Just four got 15 out of 16 right.

By now, we've learned that Cinderella's carriage doesn't turn into a pumpkin once the NCAA tournament starts. It becomes a Formula One car racing through the bracket — and it may be moving at an even faster pace this year.
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AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this story. 
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The Scoopala on the Hoopala - March Madness is Here!!!

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At long last the college basketball season is over and the conference tournaments have left more questions than answers so it must be time for March Madness when men become boys watching the boys become men playing.

Thank God for sports in America and the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, March Madness, World Series and every other athletic showcase that separates the best from the rest.

If we had to live only with the news, politics and current events the suicide rate would be ten times higher in America, the gambling industry would be dead, and guys would have so much more time to spend with their girls the divorce rate would probably double.

Think of the economic impact from sports.  Billions spent in pools, billions more spent on booze, and for the first time we will know the economic impact when potheads try to keep up with the high speed boys in shorts.  We can actually measure the economic impact in Colorado (where it is legal) and also poll the fans to see how many even realize the University of Colorado is in the tournament.

"Hey man, what the hell is a Buffalo doing running up and down the court?  I thought we were watching B-ball not National Geographic."

This will also be the first time in history we have a billion dollar pool thanks to The Sage of Omaha Warren Buffett and speaking of Omaha the Creighton Blue Jays are also in the tourney along with player of the year candidate Doug McDermott.

The last two national champions, Kentucky intra-state rivals the Louisville Cardinals and the University of Kentucky Wildcats are in the same bracket and will have to play in the third round, long before the championship game.

One of the #1 seeds, the University of Arizona, is my alma mater where I played on the Wildcats team long ago and should have a good shot at winning it all but the field is well balanced and any number of teams could win.

From now until April 7 we can forget about the world and join our families and friends in one of the greatest reality shows in the world, the NCAA Basketball championships.  These kids have spent their entire lives working for this moment.

Most world and national championships like the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup and even the Olympics give the players multiple chances to win since they can always qualify the next year but once your college career is over there will never be another chance to win in your lifetime.

Of course the cheerleaders add glamour and energy to the proceedings and it is their only moment in the national spotlight as well.  Come to think of it there should be a contest for the best cheerleading squad as well.

So here is some of the scoopala...

Watch Doug McDermott of Creighton, the smoothest shooter in the nation, continue to set records.

Will the only unbeaten team in America, Wichita State, survive?  They have to get past Kentucky, St. Louis and Louisville in the first three rounds.

Can #1 Florida keep it up after escaping a loss to Kentucky in the last second of their last game?

What conference will win the most games?  What conferences may not exist next year?

Will there be a Cinderella team this year (San Diego State?)?

Which teams will self-destruct in the closing minutes when a player forgets the team and seeks individual glory?

What better way to end the Winter of our discontent than letting your globes get glued to the radiation generator screen and cheering for the underdogs.  Move over Putin, we got better things to worry about.

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The Battle of Redemption for the Bluegrass Bluebloods

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Kentucky versus Louisville - Calipari versus Pitino

As if the significance of the basketball game was not enough when Bluegrass Bluebloods Kentucky and Louisville take the court in the NCAA national semi-finals in New Orleans Saturday there are a host of sidebar stories worthy of merit as well.

Start with the fact both are coached by fiery Italians from the Eastern US, Rick Pitino of New York City and John Calipari of Moon Township just outside of Pittsburgh, PA.

Both played out east in college.

Pitino played for U. Mass while Calipari played for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before transferring to Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

Both were assistant coaches for coaching legends, Pitino at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim and Calipari at Kansas under Larry Brown.

Both got first head coaching jobs in Massachusetts, Pitino at Boston University and Calipari at U. Mass.

Pitino, former star player at U. Mass, was on selection committee to hire Calapari.

Both revived their schools making them national powerhouses.

Both coached Kentucky.

Both coached in college and the pros.  

They are the only coaches in history to take three different schools to the NCAA final 4.  (Yes I know 2 Calipari trips no longer count.)

Both are among the top winning coaches in college.

Pitino is one of a select group of eight coaches who have taken teams from four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.

Pitino is one of 10 coaches all-time who have reached the Final Four on at least five occasions.

Both are seeking redemption, Pitino from personal blackmail scandal and Calipari from coaching violations at U. Mass and Memphis.

Pitino is seeking his second national championship while Calipari is seeking his first national championship.

Pitino is the Dapper Dan of college coaches whose sterling courtside dress style changed forever the coaches bench in college basketball.

Not only are they two of the best college coaches of all time but they are also two of the most animated and entertaining coaches of all time.

Let the game begin.

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America can't seem to get enough of Kentucky

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As if the NCAA Battle of the Bluegrass between UK and Louisville is not enough - Kentucky natives carry Hunger Games on film and Missing on TV to astounding successes.

I, for one, can't get enough of Kentucky as you may have noted in my earlier prediction that Hunger Games starring Jennifer Lawrence of Louisville, Kentucky would make history and bring female action leads to the forefront in Hollywood.

But it is even better than that.  Both young leads from Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence from Louisville and Josh Hutcherson who was born in Union, Kentucky have put the state firmly on the map as the film stunned Hollywood with a blockbuster $155 million opening weekend.  Not bad for a film that cost $80 million and the first of four films in a series.

Estimates are the film could generate over $400 million in domestic sales alone and the sequels could keep making a small fortune for the next seven years.

Yet there was another Kentucky actress also making headlines as UK's number one fan, Ashley Judd, premiered her new ABC series last week and finished in the top ten shows in spite of going head to head with American Idol.  Over 10.6 million watched Ashley bring Missing to life.

Here is what the media had to say about the Kentucky stars and shows.

The Washington Post

By Cara Kelly, Monday, March 26

The much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s book, “The Hunger Games,” surpassed expectations on its opening weekend, pulling in $155 million. The total earned the film several impressive distinctions, including third-biggest opening weekend of all time, the Associated Press reports.

"The huge haul marks the third-best debut ever in terms of revenue, behind the $169.2 million opening for last year’s “Harry Potter” finale and the $158.4 million opening of 2008’s “The Dark Knight.”

“Harry Potter” and “Batman” were well-established franchises. “The Hunger Games” set a revenue record for a non-sequel, taking in more than twice what the first “Twilight” movie did with its $69.6 million opening weekend.

“This is the birth of a franchise. To launch in this fashion is mindboggling,” said David Spitz, head of distribution at Lionsgate, which now also owns the “Twilight” franchise after its purchase of Summit Entertainment.”

The impressive revenue also earned the film several other honors, says Jen Chaney of Celebritology.

With just a single weekend under its belt, “The Hunger Games” is already very close to becoming the biggest hit of 2012.

"The Lorax,” which has been in wide release for three weeks, remains the year’s top grosser with $177.3 million in its pro-environment pockets. Expect it to hand over that title to “The Hunger Games” sometime during the next week.

“The Hunger Games” has already earned roughly 2.5 times as much money at the North American box office as "John Carter" has during the past two weeks.

And it did so with a budget well below half of what it cost to make “John Carter.” If only Disney had spent less money and handed Taylor Kitsch a bow and arrow, things could have turned out differently.

The earnings are great news for Lions Gate Entertainment, the production company behind ‘Hunger Games.’ The company bought Summit Entertainment in January, effectively bringing the other teenage smash “Twilight” under the same roof as Collins’s hit, the Associated Press reports.

These two movies could generate about $450 million in profit combined, estimates Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz. The adventures of bow-wielding heroine Katniss Everdeen alone could translate to 6 to 7 years of higher earnings, Creutz says, adding that Lions Gate may post its first profit in five years when its fiscal year ends on March 31.

More than two-thirds of Lions Gate’s revenue comes from the movie business, so its first blockbuster means a lot. It had been getting by with staples like Tyler Perry comedies and the “Saw” horror series.

The rest of Lions Gate’s revenue comes from television productions such as “Mad Men,” which kicked off its fifth season Sunday. Although the company doesn’t reap ad revenue from the hit TV show, success with audiences keeps it in demand as a production company. It also boosts sales of DVDs and licensing revenue from reruns.

The opening figures are also good news for films featuring female action heroes. The success may inspire Hollywood to make more films with female leads, according to Christopher Palmeri.

“The Hunger Games,” which set a record as the biggest opening ever for a non-sequel, illustrates how Hollywood under- appreciates audiences’ acceptance of female action heroes, according to Phil Contrino, editor of researcher Boxoffice.com.

“People were hungry for something like this,” Contrino said in an interview. “Now everyone will be looking for the next ‘Hunger Games’ instead of every male-driven, Will Smith action film,” he said, referring to the star of “Independence Day” and “Men in Black.”

“The Hunger Games” may go on to capture $400 million domestically, according to Contrino.

The movie, which stars 21-year-old Jennifer Lawrence as an arrow-slinging killing machine, sold $59 million of tickets outside the U.S. and Canada, and was first in almost all of its 67 markets, Vancouver-based Lions Gate said yesterday in a statement.

This is what the media had to say about Missing, Ashley Judd's new TV series.

Debut of Judd's 'Missing' on ABC lands in top 10

By David Bauder

AP Television Writer / March 20, 2012

NEW YORK—If your television show revolves around a search for someone missing, it helps to have Ashley Judd looking.

That's ABC's lesson from Nielsen's television ratings. Last Thursday's premiere of the network drama "Missing," starring Judd as a former CIA agent trying to find a teenage son who disappeared in Rome, landed among the 10 most popular series last week with 10.6 million viewers. The strong sampling came despite "Missing" competing directly with Fox's "American Idol."

Go Kentucky...

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The Battle of Bluegrass Thoroughbreds

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Pitino Louisville versus Calipari Kentucky

March Madness and the Midwest Hayseeds - Where are the power conferences now?

East coast sports writers are left stunned after the NCAA round of eight left only Midwestern teams in the final four for national champions.  What happened to the eastern power conferences that dominated the selection process, conferences like the Big East and ACC?

Ashley Judd with UK Wildcat

Kentucky remains the prohibitive favorite and is the only number 1 team left in the tournament.  For the first time in about 50 years two teams from the same state will meet in the final four, Kentucky and Louisville, while the other two contenders are Ohio State next door to Kentucky and Kansas farther west.

We picked Kentucky as the winner and so far no one has come close to them.  Louisville, under the magic of former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, has pulled off a series of major upsets to get to the final four.  Kentucky played Louisville earlier this year and UK won at home by just 7 points.   No one has come that close to UK in the tourney though they have played all away games.

Louisville Cardinal

Some sports analysts say the championship match will take second place to the semi-final battle between Kentucky basketball giants.  UK is the most successful team in NCAA basketball history while Pitino has made Louisville into the biggest basketball money generator for the school in the nation.

As John Clay of McClatchy Newspapers wrote:

ATLANTA — Not even Bourbon Street will know what hit it.

Welcome to what promises to be the wildest, craziest, most hyped, most exciting, most nerve-wracking and sleepless six days leading up to the biggest, most-anticipated sporting event in the history of our little commonwealth.

For a state that lives for basketball, this is a dream and a nightmare all at the same time.

This is Kentucky vs. Louisville in the Final Four for the first time.

This is the top-dog Cats, the NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, winners of the South Regional by beating Baylor 82-70 on Sunday, versus the underdog Cards, No. 4 seed and surprise 72-68 West Regional winner over Florida on Saturday, squaring off in the Big Easy for a berth in the national championship game.

This is something that comes along once in, well, never.

It’s UK versus U of L, the state’s two biggest rivals on the sport’s biggest stage.

It’s John Caliapri and Rick Pitino, former coaching friends, now, well, current coaching competitors.

It’s one passionately insane fan base against another passionately insane fan base, that happens to reside within the same borders.

“It’s basketball,” said Calipari on Sunday as if this were a mere sporting event.

No, it’s Kentucky and Louisville basketball.

Oh, UK and U of L have played in the NCAA Tournament before, in the 1959 Mideast Regional semifinals (Louisville won), in the 1983 Mideast Regional finals (Louisville won) and in the 1984 Mideast second round (Kentucky won).

They’ve never met in the Final Four, however, though they came close twice.

In 1986, Louisville beat Auburn to win the West Regional, but Kentucky lost to LSU in the finals of the Mideast Regional.

In 1975, the two actually came within a whisker of playing for the national championship when Kentucky beat Syracuse in the national semifinal in San Diego, then Louisville lost a heartbreaker to UCLA in the second game that day.

Now, finally, everything has fallen into place.

However, don't overlook the other teams, Ohio State and Kansas, who rank among the basketball elite though they will not get the media attention of the Kentucky duo.  I lean toward Kansas reaching the finals against Kentucky with Kentucky winning but any of the four teams is capable of knocking off the others.

It should be a rousing finish to a rather lackluster NCAA season and if you have ties to Kentucky, the semi-final could just be a classic.  This is truly the Battle of Bluegrass Thoroughbreds.

By the way, UK is also still in the running in the NCAA Women's national tournament.  We just can't get enough of the Wildcats.

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