Peace Garden State Warriors

The North Dakota State Bison were able to capture their second consecutive Summit League men’s basketball title on Wednesday. This marks their third conference title since becoming fully eligible for Division I competition in 2008-2009. If you also consider that the Bison athletic program are the reigning champions in FCS football (winning their fourth consecutive title back in January) and Summit League baseball and softball (having won five of the last six titles), one has to take notice of the dynasty brewing in North Dakota’s largest city.

It’s also amazing what the Bison have been able to accomplish even when leadership changes hands. When football coach Craig Bohl, who saw the Bison through their D-I transition and their first three titles, left to take the job at Wyoming at the beginning of last season, defensive coordinator Chris Klieman stepped into the position and NDSU didn’t miss a beat en route to their fourth championship. The same thing happened in men’s basketball. Saul Phillips, who led the team during their 2009 and 2014 tourney runs, left for Ohio at the beginning of this season. In steps former associate head coach David Richman, and the Bison fight their way to another conference title.

The Bison’s success can be contributed to a strong coaching lineage (Bohl passes down to Klieman; Tim Miles passes down to Phillips who passes down to Richman) and a loyal fanbase in a region that is largely forgotten but is economically booming thanks to the oil industry.

Whenever a school gets to be this successful at the mid-major level, sometimes even less so, there is always talk about moving up with the big boys. The speculation goes in so many directions. Are their facilities big enough? What conference would invite them? The Mountain West? The MAC? It’s not like they can’t handle the competition. The football team took down Kansas State in 2013, while the men’s basketball team beat Oklahoma in the tourney and the softball team took down nationally ranked Auburn just last season.

Appalachian State, Old Dominion, and UMass are all examples of schools that took the leap from FCS to FBS with varying degrees of success. However, the talk of NDSU leaving for seemingly greener pastures has been minimal. And why would they?

In football, they are the king of the mountain and have been for almost half-a-decade. Their other sports play in a conference that actual puts the spotlight on North Central America for once. The Summit League was an amorphous, unstable mess as the Mid-Continent Conference. Now, it’s all eyes on Fargo, Brookings, Vermillion, and Sioux Falls (where the conference basketball tournament annually draws strong numbers from the region).

No, chances are the Bison aren't leaving the Summit League anytime soon. As they celebrate another title and wait for Selection Sunday to see where the men's team will play next, I'm sure the athletic department as a whole is happy with being the school at the top of the map and the top of the standings.

Here's What People Think of Illinois College Basketball

With the NBA season starting tonight, don't forget that the junior circuit - college hoops - make their debut next Friday the 8th. Over the past season I got into the habit of following a lot of the Division I teams in my state. So with all the season previews and predictions dropping left and right, I figured I'd compiled a few of them and see what the experts are saying about the thirteen men's hoops programs from the Land of Lincoln.

The teams are ordered by their national ranking in Dan Hanner's projections over at ESPN Insider. The rankings were derived from 10,000 simulations of each player and each team's defense. Pretty cool stuff. To find out more go here. If you don't have an Insider account you'll just have to settle for the numbers I post here.

Under that is Hanner's rankings in relation to the conference the school is in, the projected conference finish of the school according to a separate preview ran by Insider using different writers, and their place in the conference-commissioned preseason polls.

BIG EAST (10 TEAMS)

136. DePaul

• Conf. Poll: 10th
• ESPN: 10th
• Hanner: 10th

BIG TEN (12 TEAMS)

Apparently the Big Ten is too good to put out a preseason poll, so I had to stick with the ESPN predictions here.

53. Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 8th

108. Northwestern

• ESPN: 8th
• Hanner: 10th

HORIZON LEAGUE (9 TEAMS)

280. Illinois-Chicago

• Conf. Poll: 6th
• ESPN: 8th
• Hanner: 9th

MID-AMERICAN (12 TEAMS)

304. Northern Illinois

• Conf. Poll: 12th
• ESPN: 12th
• Hanner: 12th

MISSOURI VALLEY (9 TEAMS)

The MVC's preseason poll won't be released until October 30th. I will add it when it becomes available.

153. Bradley

• ESPN: 4th
• Hanner: 7th

183. Illinois State

• ESPN: 6th
• Hanner: 8th

199. Loyola Chicago

• ESPN: 9th
• Hanner: 9th

210. Southern Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 10th

OHIO VALLEY (12 TEAMS)

274. Eastern Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 9th
• Conf. Poll: 10th

317. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

• Conf. Poll: 11th
• Hanner: 11th
• ESPN: 12th

SUMMIT LEAGUE (8 TEAMS)

246. Western Illinois

• Conf. Poll: 4th
• Hanner: 4th
• ESPN: 5th

WESTERN ATHLETIC (9 TEAMS)

286. Chicago State

• ESPN: 4th
• Conf. Poll (Coaches): 6th
• Conf. Poll (Media): 6th
• Hanner: 6th

TL;DR: A lot of middling to low expectations for the teams from Illinois. We'll see if any of these teams can prove the critics wrong. Stay tuned for more coverage of Illinois men's and women's college hoops during the season.

Coliseum Fantasy Insider

Happy Tuesday! I'm starting a new weekly feature in this slot, in which I discuss my sports fantasy endeavors. Y'know, my own fantasy leagues, my fictional leagues I kept planning but never really starting. Things like that. Currently, the only thing I'm actively doing is my fantasy football team that goes by the über-creative name "Team Simms" (Suggestions are welcomed). However, I have plenty of projects coming down the shoot. Or else I wouldn't be starting this feature!

My fantasy football team is a member of a league that is ran by my father and is entering its fifth season. Most of the members live in the Las Vegas area, so I'm a bit of a satellite member. I have been to the championship twice (I think), but never took home the crown. Every year brings new hope, but after my draft, I'm a bit on edge.

The problem is that I'm pretty light in the running back department. This league is a PPR league, so I was focused on getting the best receivers and a couple of good QBs. In turn I lost sight of the fact that running backs need love, too, and I came out with Reggie Bush, Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead, Knowshon Moreno. With super-slim pickings in free agency, these are essentially the guys I'm stuck with. I came in to Week 1 prepared for a long season.

But in the end, things actually worked out. Below was my starting lineup with their point total:

QB: Drew Brees (27)

RB: Reggie Bush (31)

RB: Ryan Mathews (13)

Flex: Marques Colston (17)

WR: Brandon Marshall (24)

WR: Roddy White (3)

TE: Brandon Myers (19)

D/ST: Chicago Bears (12)

K: Blair Walsh (8)

I can't get too upset with Roddy White's performance, as he was battling an injury. Everybody else did great. I didn't expect Brandon Myers to get me that many points, but he was able to pick up a touchdown towards the end of the game which really helped. The big surprise to me was Reggie Bush leading all scorers. He got a lot of carries and a lot of catches out of the backfield. I'm hoping he can stay healthy and will be a big asset to the Lions this season.

As my biggest concern was running back, I was really worried about how Ryan Mathews would do this first week. I picked him because he was the best available at the time, forgetting about his injury history. He was my only starter playing on Monday, and I was down 8 after huge performances for my opponent by Anquan Boldin, Andrew Luck, and Reggie Wayne. I kept my expectations low on Ryan, but he came through! I was able to win the week 154-149.

Heading into week two the projections say I have the upper-hand, but again I'm going to keep my expectations low. I'm going to substitute Steve Johnson for Roddy White and Knowshon Moreno for Ryan Mathews right now, but those situations will be fluid through the week.

Tune in next Tuesday to find out if I can improve to 2-0!!!

.....

Now, before I go, let me take this time to discus some of my upcoming sports fiction work. All of these projects will be posted on my blog for the Coliseum Sports Network. You can click the link here or the one located at the top of the right sidebar.

For one there's the United Basketball Clubs, a project of mine that I have worked on on-and-off for over a decade. I have tried to bring to the web in various forms over the past several years, but I'm looking to stick with it this time. I will begin posting events about the league October 1st.

Also in the vein of basketball I'm going to be doing a fantasy college basketball league called the Futures League of Professional Basketball. The idea from this league stemmed from the idea of having a professional league for college-aged ballplayers as refuge from the restrictions of the NCAA. At first I was going to make up the stats based off of player projections, but that would be too time-consuming. Instead, season play will be a Head-2-Head Points league while tournament play will utilize the SimMatchup engine on WhatIfSports.com. Posting for the FLPB should begin about early November.

Lastly, I have a baseball and football league in mind for the spring. The leagues will utilize the customization abilities of the MLB: The Show and NCAA Football franchises. Even though the football league won't begin until after the Super Bowl and the baseball league won't start until late May, I'm going to start working on those very soon.

I will continue to keep you posted on the development of these projects in this spot each Tuesday. But, again, don't forget to check out the Coliseum Sports Network site.

Game of the Week: Mountaineers vs. Tigers 3/19/92

This is a bizarre game I came across a couple of years ago. It's a matchup from the First Round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Regional between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Missouri Tigers. The game was played in Greensboro, North Carolina, and on this day there was apparently severe weather in the area, including a tornado touching down 20 miles from the arena. The lightning that came with these storms caused three separate outages; two late in the first half, and one late in the second half. What would have usually been a two hour game was stretched to three hours and two minutes with all of the delays.

In the end, Missouri came out victorious 89-78, but would go on to lose in the next round to Seton Hall.  Future NBAer Anthony Peeler lead Mizzou with 25 points. Chris Leonard paced WVU with 25 of his own. You can see the Box Score HERE.

Footage is from CBS. Mel Proctor and Dan Bonner are on the call, with Lesley Visser working the sidelines.

It's (Hilton) Magic

#2 Iowa State 67, #5 Princeton 52

Fred Hoiberg and his Iowa State Cylcones have won the 2013 Coliseum Invitational!

Hilton Coliseum is 3-and-a-half hours north of Kansas City, but the magic was still alive in this championship final as Iowa State was able to trounce Mitch Henderson's Princeton Tigers.

Early on the game was back and forth, and by halftime #5 Princeton looked to have the inside track on the upset; they were up 27-26.

Then came the second half, where Iowa State exploded for 41 points while only allowing 25. It was a team effort for Iowa State, as all nine players that went into the game contributed at least two points in the second half.

For Princeton, Ian Hummer led the way with 15 points and TJ Bray was right behind him with 11. Princeton as a team shot 35% from the field thanks to Iowa State's athletic players forcing tough shots inside. For Iowa State Chris Babb led the team with 15 points while Tyrus McGee had 13 and Georges Niang had 12.

This championship run by Iowa State was a team effort, which made choosing a single MVP tough. However, the committee has decided that senior guard Tyrus McGee is the 2013 Coliseum Invitational MVP.

So there you have it. 32 teams were thrown together, and one team came out the winner. We'll see what random teams are put in the blender next season. In the meantime, congratulations to the Iowa State Cyclones, your 2013 Coliseum Invitational Champions!

 

Coliseum Invitational: National Semifinals

It has come down to this. The final four teams standings. They have convened in Kansas City to see who will come out as the winner of the Coliseum Invitational. Here are the four regional winners: 

Region 1: #1 Ohio State Buckeyes

Region 2: #2 Iowa State Cyclones

Region 3: #5 Princeton Tigers

Region 4: #2 Missouri Tigers

The matchups were determined by the grouping the remaining teams by RPI. So in this case, the matchups are Ohio State (8) vs. Princeton (120) and Missouri (34) vs. Iowa State (44). Here is a summary of both games: 

#2 Iowa State 72, #2 Missouri 70

After a slow start by both teams that saw a 29-28 Tiger lead at halftime, things started to pick up with both teams scoring a combined 85 points in the second half. Iowa State began pulling away when they were up by six with 3 minutes left. However, Mizzou began fighting back and were able to tie the game at 70 on a Laurence Bowers lay-in with 14 seconds remaining. The game was decided when Melvin Ejim connected on a jumper with one second left. Ejim had 12 points and 15 rebounds, but Chris Babb led the Cyclones in scoring with 19. Behind him was Will Clyburn with 18 and Tyrus McGee with 15. For Missouri, Earnest Ross led the way with 15 points, Keion Bell had 12, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Phil Pressey and Tony Criswell finished with 10 each.

#5 Princeton 70, #1 Ohio State 59

It was efficient offense and strong perimeter defense that allowed Princeton to run away with this game against Ohio State. After shooting out to a 41-25 lead at half, Princeton was able to hold on to the lead for the rest of the game. Ian Hummer led the way with 21 points while Denton Koon added 14. For Ohio State, Deshaun Thomas had 18 points and 7 rebounds. He was the only Buckeye to score double-figures. As a team, they shot 15% from three and 53% from the line.

So the final of the first ever Coliseum Invitational will be Iowa State and Princeton. Will there be more Hilton Magic in Kansas City, or will the Ivy Leaguers' efficiency be too much for Iowa State. On Friday, it will be all figured out.

Coliseum Invitational: Regional Finals

This is it. The field started with 32 teams and has been whittled down to 8. There are only four tickets to Kansas City, so who will reign supreme? Below is a summary of each game:

REGION 1

# 1 Ohio State 68, #2 Oregon 57

Despite a 12 point and 11 rebound showing by Arsalan Kazemi, the Ducks just couldn't handle Ohio State at Value City Arena. Oregon was held to 39% from the field and 21% from three while the Buckeyes went 48% from the field and 53% from three. Deshaun Thomas led OSU with 19 points while Lenzelle Smith added on 12 points.

REGION 2

#2 Iowa State 88, #1 Syracuse 80

It was a shootout under the Dome, but the Cyclones took their Hilton Magic to Syracuse and handled the Orange's world-famous zone. Tyrus McGee led Iowa State off the bench with 22 points while Will Clyburn lead the starters with 20. 11 of Clyburn's points came from the line (Remember kids, you gotta hit those free throws. Will went 11-14). Korie Lucious added 13 and Melvin Ejim added 12 points and 9 rebounds. For Syracuse, CJ Fair had a huge game with 27 points and 8 rebounds, including going 8-8 from the line (Kids...). Brandon Triche had 15 and 3 steals. James Southerland had 11.

REGION 3

#5 Princeton 80, #2 Temple 78

After spending the past two rounds on the West Coast, the Tigers only had to travel an hour away for their Regional Final game against Temple. Princeton took a 23-21 lead off of a Will Barrett tip-in with 8:34 left in the first half and - despite a comeback effort by the Owls late in the second half - never looked back. Barrett led Princeton in scoring with 18 points, but Ian Hummer had 17 points and 10 rebounds. TJ Bray also had 14 points and Denton Koon had 11. Khalif Wyatt led Temple with 18, Will Cummings had 16, and Jake O'Brien added 10 in the losing effort.

REGION 4

#2 Missouri 89, #1 Creighton 80

Missouri's offensive machine has been firing on all cylinders this tournament, and the machine kept grinding past Doug McDermott and Creighton in Omaha. Phil Pressey led the way with 21 points and 6 assists while Keion Bell had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists for Mizzou. Laurence Bowers added 19 and 9 rebounds while Jabari Brown added 13 points. For Creighton, Doug McDermott led the losing effort with 23 points, Gregory Echenique had 14 points and 9 rebounds, Grant Gibbs had 11, and Will Artino came off the bench and scored 14. Despite those sound performances, the Bluejays were out-rebounded 39-22 and shot 31% from three.

So the final four teams are set for Kansas City; Ohio State, Iowa State, Princeton, and Missouri. The matchups for the National Semis are based on RPI, with the top RPI playing the fourth best RPI, and the second best RPI playing the third best RPI. With that in mind, the matchups will be:

#5 Princeton vs. #1 Ohio State

#2 Iowa State vs. #2 Missouri

These games will be played on Wednesday. The winners will face off in the Final on Friday.

Coliseum Invitational: Regional Semifinals Part 2

Two more Regional Finals are left to be set, so here are the results for the Semifinal rounds in Regions 2 and 3:

REGION 2

#1 Syracuse 63, #4 Nebraska 53

After having to fight tooth-and-nail in a double-overtime win over USC, the Cornhuskers' might was unable to produce similar results against the Orange. Outside of Ray Gallegos and Brandon Ubel picking up 16 points and 6 rebounds each, Nebraska struggled to score, including David Talley going 2-12 from the field. Shavon Shields came of the bench and had 10 points and 11 rebounds. For the victorious Orange, Michael Carter-Williams' 18 led the way. Brandon Triche also had 16 while CJ Fair and James Southerland had 11.

#2 Iowa State 67, #3 Alabama 48

It was another strong home victory for the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum. This time Iowa State was led by Korie Lucious's 14 while Tyrus McGee (12), Melvin Ejim and Will Clyburn (11 each) came through with significant contributions. Trevor Releford (14) and Trevor Lacey (13) both paced the Crimson Tide, but the team as a whole shot a paltry 31%, and it's gonna be hard to win when your shooting is that off on a given night.

REGION 3

#5 Princeton 70, #1 UNLV 66

After a win at Stanford, Princeton stayed out on the West Coast on the heels of their matchup at UNLV. Unimpeded by jet lag, the playing field was leveled as they sparred with the Rebels at Thomas & Mack. In the end, Princeton came out on top due to strong shooting and perimeter defense. Princeton shot 48% from the field and 47% from three, while UNLV shot 45% from the field and 20% from three. Denton Koon and Will Barrett led the way with 16 points each. Ian Hummer had 15 points and 10 rebounds while TJ Bray chipped in 12. For UNLV, Anthony Bennett lead the way with 19 while Bryce Dejean-Jones had 14 and Anthony Marshall had 12.

#2 Temple 76, #3 Tennessee 58

The Volunteers had no answer for Khalif Wyatt and Scootie Randall. Wyatt led the Owls with 17 and Randall had 15. From a percentage standpoint, Tennessee shot well (43% from the field, 50% from three), but Tennessee took six fewer field goals than Temple and shot half as many free throws. Also, turnovers. Tennessee had 14 while Temple only had 6. Jarnell Stokes was the only double-digit scorer for the Vols. He had 10.

...and with that, the table is fully set for the Regional Finals. The match-ups are as follows:

REGION 2: #2 Iowa State at #1 Syracuse

REGION 3: #5 Princeton at #2 Temple

All four Regional Finals will take place on Sunday the 31st.

Coliseum Invitational: Regional Semifinals Part 1

16 teams remain in the Coliseum Invitational, and the first 8 from Region 1 and Region 4 are looking to move on to Sunday's Regional Final in today's matchups. Below is a summary of each game:

REGION 1

#1 Ohio State 63, #5 Dayton 60

Two schools an hour-and-a-half apart faced off in Columbus to see who would advance to the Regional Finals. A Devin Oliver three-point attempt didn't go in at the regulation buzzer, meaning no overtime to settle the score and a victory for the Buckeyes. Aaron Craft's 16 lead OSU while Sam Thompson and Lenzelle Smith both had 11. For Dayton Kevin Dillard led with 13 while Dyshawn Pierre had 12 and Vee Sanford had 11. With the three at the buzzer not going in, Devin Oliver finished the night with 7.

#2 Oregon 71, #6 Southern Illinois 68

The Saluki magic ran out in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. The team that stormed through the conference tournament and survived the Regional Quarterfinals fought to the bitter, but came up short against the Ducks in Eugene. Oregon was lead by Damyean Dotson's 18. Tony Woods added 12 while Arsalan Kazemi had 10. For SIU, Jeff Early was held to 9 points and 10 rebounds. In his stead, Desmar Jackson led with 17 points while Anthony Beane had 13 and Dantiel Daniels had 12.

REGION 4

#1 Creighton 81, #4 Iowa 72

The Bluejays kept the game high-scoring and ultimately the Hawkeyes just couldn't keep up. Doug McDermott finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds while Austin Chatman backed him with 13 and Avery Dingman with 11. For Iowa, Zach McCabe led from off the bench with 16 while Roy Devyn Marble (12) and Aaron White (10) were the major starting contributors. Iowa shot 39.7% while yielding a 55.6% field goal percentage to Creighton, but managed to stay in it by getting to the line and hitting their free throws (71%). Creighton, however, shot two fewer freebies and went 84.2% from the line.

#2 Missouri 78, #3 Air Force 69

After laying the smacketh down on Nebraska-Omaha, Air Force proved to be a slightly tougher out for Missouri. When the buzzer sounded, though, Mizzou had still come out with a smooth victory. Again it was Keion Bell leading Mizzou as he finished with 23 points. Jabari Brown (16), Phil Pressey (14), and  Laurence Bowers (12) also had heavy contributions for the Tigers. Michael Lyons paced Air Force with 15 points, followed by Mike Fitzgerald's 13 and Todd Fletcher's 10.

The first two regional finals have been set:

REGION 1: #2 Oregon at #1 Ohio State

REGION 4: #2 Missouri at #1 Creighton

Region 2 and Region 3 will figure out their Finals matchups tomorrow.

Coliseum Invitational: Regional Quarterfinals Part 2

After a hectic Day 1 filled with blowouts and buzzer-beaters, it was time for another day of college hoops. This time, the 16 teams of Region 2 and Region 3 squared off to see who advances to the Regional Semis.

REGION 2

#1 Syracuse 69, #8 Florida A&M 58

Four Orange scored double-digits as Syracuse cruised to victory over the Rattlers. Reggie Lewis's 22 points and Markee Teal's 11 rebounds for FAMU kept this from being a total blowout, but it was still too much Syracuse. Brandon Triche led Syracuse with 14 points, while Trevor Cooney added 12 and both James Southerland and CJ Fair had 10 each.

#2 Iowa State 72, #7 SMU 56

Rather it was Hilton Magic, or just being the superior team, Iowa State was able to pull out the victory over Larry Brown and the SMU Mustangs with relative ease. Tyrus McGee lead the Cyclones with 16 points, Will Clyburn had 15, and Korie Lucious had 13. For the Mustangs, Jalen Jones finished with 14 while Nick Russell had 11 and Cannen Cunningham had 10.

#3 Alabama 66, Georgia Tech 59

The Tide were down one at the half, but rolled past Tech in the second behind Trevor Releford's 25. Alabama only needed 8 players to dispense of the Yellow Jackets, as Rodney Cooper added 14 and Trevor Lacey picked up 11. For Georgia Tech, Robert Carter finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds and Kammeon Holsey finished with 12.

#4 Nebraska 83, #5 USC 81 (2 OT)

The Cornhusker victory was the result of a David Rivers contested jumper with seconds left the second overtime. He ended up with 13, and Nebraska moves on to the second round after an emotional victory in Lincoln. Dylan Talley lead the way for Nebraska with 27 points and Ray Gallegos was right behind him with 20. Shavon Shields also had 13 points and 10 rebounds. For USC, Eric Wise had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Omar Oraby had 11 points and 11 rebounds, JT Terrell had 10, and Jio Fontan also had 10 along with 11 assists.

REGION 3

#1 UNLV 57, #8 Hofstra 46

The embattled Pride put up a valiant defensive effort but couldn't stop UNLV from getting the opening round win. Steve Mejia of Hofstra was the only player on either team to reach double-digits; he had 15. Anthony Marhsall and Anthony Bennett led the Rebels with 9 points each. Hofstra kept UNLV to 42% shooting but only shot 33% themselves.

#2 Temple 58, #7 Eastern Michigan 49

All the Owls needed was Khalif Wyatt in their victory over Eastern Michigan. Wyatt had 21 points for Temple while Scootie Randall pitched in 10 points and Anthony Lee added 10 rebounds. Derek Thompson lead Eastern Michigan with 11 points.

#3 Tennessee 66, #6 George Washington 51

Isaiah Armwood's 11 points and 11 rebounds and Patricio Garino's 10 was not enough for George Washington as Tennessee's strong defense and balanced scoring allowed the Volunteers to cruise to a win at Thompson-Boling. Trae Golden and Josh Richardson both led Tennessee with 10 points while four more players finished with either 8 or 9 points.

#5 Princeton 59, #4 Stanford 52

A lot of great minds were on the court at Maples Pavilion Wednesday night, and Princeton came out with the victory on the road. Both teams incredibly strong defensive efforts as both teams were held to 38% shooting. In the end, the Tigers came out with the victory as Will Barrett led with 13 and Ian Hummer added on 9 points and 11 rebounds. TJ Bray (11 pts) and Brendan Connolly (10 pts) also had big nights for Princeton. For Stanford, Josh Huestis (16 points) and Dwight Powell (16 points and 14 rebounds) had big nights for the Cardinal.

So the table is fully set for the Regional Semis. The matchups are as follows:

REGION 2

#4 Nebraska at #1 Syracuse

#3 Alabama at #2 Iowa State

REGION 3

#5 Princeton at #1 UNLV

#3 Tennessee at #2 Temple

Region 1 and Region 4 will be back at it tomorrow, then 2 and 3 will face off in semifinals action on Friday.

Coliseum Invitational: Regional Quarterfinals Part 1

Day 1 of the Coliseum Invitational sees the teams of Region 1 and Region 4 facing off to see who moves on to the Regional Semis. With a field of solid teams, is anybody primed for an upset on opening day? Below is a recap of each game:

REGION 1

#1 Ohio State 74, #8 Howard 47

The Bison came into Columbus and were simply outmanned. Lenzelle Smith and Deshaun Thomas were both able to pick up 18-point games for the Buckeyes. Mike Phillips had 13 for Howard, but his team as a whole shot 30%. Ohio State on the other hand shot 54% from the field, including 59% from three (10-17).

#2 Oregon 57, #7 Manhattan 54

There was almost an upset in Eugene. After being down 36-23 at the half, Manhattan fought back and took the game down to the wire. A Donovan Kates three brought the Jaspers within three with 10 seconds remaining. But after a crucial missed free throw by Arsalan Kazemi, Manhattan couldn't push the ball downcourt in time to get a good shot off. In the end, Shane Richards led Manhattan and all scorers with 13 points while Donovan Kates and Michael Alvarado pitched in 10 each. They also grossly out-rebounded their opponent 48-33. For Oregon, Damyean Dotson lead with 12 and Dominic Artis had 10.

#6 Southern Illinois 65, #3 Cincinnati 62

Southern Illinois enters the Invitational as the winner of the Big Prairie Conference Tournament. The team went 10-14 in conference play, then stormed through the tournament as a ninth seed. On this day in Cincinnati, the run continues, as a big second half comeback put the Salukis on top over the Bearcats. Jeff Early, the Big Prairie Tourney MVP, was once again the leader on this night, picking up 23 points and 16 rebounds. SIU came into halftime down 35-22, but took the lead off an Early jumper that made it 47-45 with 11:02 left in the second half. Desmar Jackson added 12 and Anthony Beane had 10 for SIU. For Cincy, JaQuon Parker and Sean Kilpatrick both had 15 while Cashmere Wright added 11.

#5 Dayton 59, #4 Vanderbilt 49

The hostile confines of Memorial Gym didn't seem to phase Dayton, as the Flyers cruised to a 10-point victory in Nashville. Kevin Dillard controlled the game, scoring 20 and dishing out 6 assists in the victory. Vee Stanford added 16 points and Dyshawn Pierre ripped down 11 boards. For Vandy, Kyle Fuller scored 11 while Kedren Johnson added 10.

REGION 4

#1 Creighton 97, #8 Jackson State 67

Led by Doug McDermott's 28 points and 7 rebounds, the Bluejays almost put 100 on Jackson State in front of a raucous CenturyLink Center crowd. Grant Gibbs contributed 16 while Ethan Wragge added 14 off the bench. The Bluejays out-rebounded the Tigers 44-18. Kelsey Howard (13), Christian Williams (12), and Dundrecous Nelson (12) all scored double figures for Jackson State.

#2 Missouri 107, #7 Nebraska-Omaha 67

While Creighton almost put 100 on Jackson State, Mizzou most certainly hit the century mark against UNO. Three different Tigers finished with 20-point games: Keion Bell messed around and almost got a triple double with 22 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds, Phil Pressey put up 21 and had 7 steals, and Laurence Bowers added 20 to the cause. Also of note: Alex Oriahki's double-double, as he had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Mizzou out-rebounded UNO 40-19 and stole the ball from the Mavs 14 times (UNO stole it only 4 times). John Karhoff was Nebraska-Omaha's lone double-digit scorer. He had 10.

#3 Air Force 78, #6 Delaware 77 (OT)

A pull-up, buzzer-beating jumper by Kyle Green helped push Air Force past Delaware in overtime. A tight game throughout, the largest lead by either side was a six-point one held by Air Force early in the second half. Working with a 9-man rotation, four Blue Hens scored double-figures. Devon Saddler's 26 led the way while Kyle Anderson (16), Jarvis Threatt (15), and Jamelle Hagins (12 and 11 rebounds) put in major work as well. Air Force on the other hand used all 12 of their players, and were led by Michael Lyons's 16 points and 10 rebounds. Falcon hero Kyle Green finished the night with 11.

#4 Iowa 60, #5 Texas-Arlington 51

It was a bad shooting night for everyone involved, but it was Aaron White's 15 that put the Hawkeyes over the top and allowed them to advance to the next round over the Mavericks. Iowa shot 36% from the field while UT Arlington went 31% from the field. Jamel Outler came off the bench for Arlington and notched 16 points while the starting five only came up with a combined 26.

So with those results in place, the first half of the Regional Semis is set. The matchups for the next round will be as follows:

REGION 1

#5 Dayton at #1 Ohio State

#6 Southern Illinois at #2 Oregon

REGION 4

#4 Iowa at #1 Creighton

#3 Air Force at #2 Missouri

Tomorrow, Region 2 and Region 3 face off to complete the field for the next round. Who knows what lies ahead in the Coliseum Invitational.

Introducing: the Coliseum Invitational

Today, I have decided to bring back something I used to do in earlier iterations of my sports blog: the simulated basketball tournament. I would randomly pick 32 teams I liked from the college basketball season and use WhatIfSports to see which team would come out on top. I'm now set to bring back those good ol' days with the Coliseum Invitational. 

This time around, I'm picking 31 schools that I have either been on the campuses of or know people that attend them. The 32nd team is the champion of the ILLHoops Tournament I ran to see which team from the state of Illinois would come out as the victor. In its inaugural edition, Southern Illinois will be the representative from the Land of Lincoln.

With the teams selected, I then used each school's RPI to match them up serpentine style into four regions.

The Field of 32 is as follows:

REGION 1

#1 Ohio State vs. #8 Howard

#2 Oregon vs. #7 Manhattan

#3 Cincinnati vs. #6 Southern Illinois

#4 Vanderbilt vs. #5 Dayton

REGION 2

#1 Syracuse vs. #8 Florida A&M

#2 Iowa State vs. #7 SMU

#3 Alabama vs. #6 Georgia Tech

#4 Nebraska vs. #5 USC

REGION 3

#1 UNLV vs. #8 Hofstra

#2 Temple vs. #7 Eastern Michigan

#3 Tennessee vs. #6 George Washington

#4 Stanford vs. #5 Princeton

REGION 4

#1 Creighton vs. #8 Jackson State

#2 Missouri vs. #7 Nebraska-Omaha

#3 Air Force vs. #6 Delaware

#4 Iowa vs. #5 Texas-Arlington

...and here is how the schedule will break down for the Invitational:

3/26: Regional Quarterfinals (Region 1 & Region 4)

3/27: Regional Quarterfinals (Region 2 & Region 3)

3/28: Regional Semifinals (Region 1 & Region 4)

3/29: Regional Semifinals (Region 2 & Region 3)

3/31: Regional Finals (All regions)

4/3: National Semifinals (Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO; Teams will be paired by RPI)

4/5: Coliseum Invitational Final (Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO)

You'd have to assume Ohio State and Syracuse are the favorites to take win it all, but in these types of tournaments, who knows. That's what so fun about it. I hope you enjoy the ride, and we will see who will be crown the Coliseum Invitational champion.

SIU Emerges From Middle of the Pack to Win ILLHoops Tourney

Jeff Early led the way for SIU, netting 23 and 15 in SIU's championship win

After going 10-14 in conference play, the Southern Illinois Salukis were able to pull off an improbable run in the inaugural ILLHoops Tournament. This run included knocking off #1 seed Illinois State and trouncing their First Round opponent, #9 UIC. Now they can add a 66-60 victory in hostile territory to the story of this crazy run. Now they are champions.

The win was led by senior guard Jeff Early, who scored 23 points and 15 rebounds and was named Big Prairie Conference Tourney MVP. DePaul's struggles at the guard position made Early unstoppable as no Blue Demon point was able to check him as he rained shots from all over and controlled the boards. Desmar Jackson also had 10 points despite going 3-11 from the field, and Jalen Pendleton contributed 10 off the bench.

DePaul's effort was a strong run, as the trio of Melvin-Young-Crockett willed their team in this tight game. Crockett had 15, Young had 14, and Melvin had 11 points and 8 rebounds. But in the end, it wasn't enough to control Jeff Early and his dominance.

For Southern Illinois, this championship earns them an automatic bid in the 2013 Coliseum Invitational. Their seeding will be determined in the coming days.

Until then, the Salukis can relax and celebrate the win. After a rough start in conference play, SIU has powered through and they are now ILLHoops champions.

ILLHoops Tournament: Semifinals

Jeff Early grabbed 14 rebounds in #9 SIU's win over #5 Bradley

The ILLHoops tourney continued at Redbird Arena, even after host Illinois State was knocked out in their first game of the tourney by a surging Southern Illinois squad. Would the Salukis run continue or would the Braves be courageous enough to stop them in their tracks? Below is a recap of each game:

#2 DePaul 67, #3 Western Illinois 47

Despite 12 rebounds and 10 assists from Terell Parks and an additional 10 from Ceola Clark, the Leathernecks struggled on offense and could not control DePaul's athletic wing players on defense. WIU shot 35.8% from the field, while DePaul shot 45.3%. Both teams took 53 shots, but the Blue Demons made five more than WIU. For DePaul, they out-rebounded Western 40-28. Brandon Young led all scorers with 13 while Cleveland Melvin added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Jamee Crockett also had 12.

#9 Southern Illinois 63, #5 Bradley 58

SIU's run continues. This time it was both Jeff Early (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Desmar Jackson (13 points, 6 rebounds) taking control for the Salukis in their win over Bradley. Bradley falls despite strong scoring efforts from Walt Lemon (15 points, 9 rebounds), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (15 points), and Jordan Prosser (10 points). However, as a team, SIU out-rebounded Bradley 37-28 and shot better from the field (46% to 41%).

So the table is set for the inaugural ILLHoops championship. #2 DePaul and #9 Southern Illinois. The game takes place at the home court of the higher seed, so McGrath-Phillips Arena will be the site where we will see who gets the bid into the 2013 Coliseum Invitational.

ILLHoops Tournament: Quarterfinals

Desmar Jackson's 22 and 11 helped #9 SIU upset #1 ISU in Normal

The scene moved from the campus sites to Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University for Friday's Quarterfinals. As ISU was the regular season champion, they earned the chance to host the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the ILLHoops Tournament. The Redbirds went 10-2 at home, but would the home-court advantage be enough to help them advance to the Semis? Below are the results of each quarterfinal matchup:

#3 Western Illinois 62, #11 Chicago State 46

Western was able to control the tempo and stop Chicago State's shooters in route to the victory. After scorching Loyola for 17 points, Quinton Pippen was held to 10 in this game on only 8 shots. For Western, Terell Parks pulled down 19 points and 13 rebounds while Ceola Clark chipped in 13 points of his own, with three of his four field goals coming from beyond the arc.

#2 DePaul 69, #7 Northwestern 61

This game went down the wire, but in the end DePaul was able to pull out the W. While Cleveland Melvin picked up a double-double (15 pts, 12 rebs) and Donnavan Kirk chipped in 11 and 6, the real spark came off the bench. Worrell Clahar lead all scorers with 16 points off the bench, going 6 of 10 from the field. For Northwestern, Reggie Hearn was held to 12 points after exploding for 32 in the First Round. Alex Olah pulled down 12 and 9 along with 4 blocks. Tre Demps (11 pts) and Dave Sobolewski (10 pts) also made big contributions for the Wildcats in the loss.

#5 Bradley 68, #4 Illinois 59

Despite 14 points each from Brandon Paul and Joseph Bertrand, Illinois was undone by the Bradley Braves in Normal. The Braves played tough defense forced several Illini to shoot poorly, including Tracy Abrams and DJ Richardson going a combined 2/14 from the field. Bradley also used their length to control the game, with Will Egolf pulling down 14 boards and both Tyshon Pickett and Jake Eastman coming up with 12 points each. Also awaken: Walt Lemon. After scoring 8 in the First Round, Lemon would go on to lead all scorers with 16 points off of 6/13 shooting.

#9 Southern Illinois 76, #1 Illinois State 68

In what will probably go down as the upset of the tournament, SIU was able to knock off #1 Illinois State in what was essentially a road game, stunning the Redbird Arena crowd. The Salukis can give all their thanks to Desmar Jackson, who exploded for 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals. While he was a force by his self, SIU as a whole shot 49% from the field as a team. That isn't to say, ISU didn't play well, as they picked up big contributions from Jackie Carmichael (11 pts, 11 rebs), Tyler Brown (16 pts), Johnny Hill (13 pts), and John Wilkins (12 pts). In the end, however, it was the Salukis - more specifically Desmar's - offensive explosion that helped Carbondale stun Illinois State in their own arena.

With those results in place, Saturday's semifinals matchups are as follows:

#2 DePaul vs. #3 Western Illinois

#5 Bradley vs. #9 Southern Illinois

ILLHoops Tournament: First Round

Reggie Hearn went ballistic!
His 32 pts helped Northwestern pull past Eastern.

On Thursday the ILLHoops Tournament kicked off with its First Round of games. The 4th through 13th teams squared off for a chance to advance to the Quarterfinals on Friday. Below are the results of each game:

#4 Illinois 63, #13 Northern Illinois 46

The game was a blowout, but it wasn't as bad for NIU as it could have been. Illinois shot poorly, going 21/54 (38.9%) from the field, but managed to go 34.6% from three. Brandon Paul (13), Joseph Bertrand (12), Tracy Abrams (11), and Tyler Griffey (10) all scored double-digits for the Illini. For Northern, Abdel Nader pulled down a double-double, scoring a game-high 20 and pulling down 13 boards. Darrell Bowie also had a decent game with 7 points and 9 rebounds. In the end, though, it wasn't enough for the Huskies, and a 2-23 tournament mercifully comes to an close.

#5 Bradley 65, #12 SIU Edwardsville 54

Bradley put up a solid effort in their home win over Edwardsville. Bradley outshot (43% from three to the Cougars' 35%) and outrebounded (42-31) SIUE by convincing margins. Dyricus Simms-Edwards lead the way for the Braves with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tyshon Pickett was right behind him with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Jerome Jones paced SIUE with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

#11 Chicago State 61, #6 Loyola 56

Christian Thomas' 13 points and 14 rebounds and Devon Turk's 13 points were not enough for Loyola to pull off the home win. Instead, it was the pinpoint accuracy from deep that helped Chicago State pull off the upset at Gentile Arena. Quinton Pippen lead the way, going 4 for 7 from three and finishing with 17 points. Corey Gray also came off the bench and hit two of three. in the end, the Cougars went 7/13 from three (53.8%). Jeremy Robinson also contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds.

#7 Northwestern 72, #12 Eastern Illinois 66

Everybody came to work for EIU. Josh Piper's 20 points lead the way, Sherman Blanford had 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Morris Woods pulled down a double-double with 11 and 10. The Panthers grossly outrebounded their opponent 36-19. But for Northwestern, all it took was Reggie Hearn. Hearn scorched EIU for 32 points, including 4 of 6 from three. Tre Demps also chipped in 11 points, but in the end Reggie was all the Wildcats needed to get the win.

#9 Southern Illinois 60, #8 UIC 45

SIU came out to play and UIC couldn't keep up. The Flames shot 30% from the field and 22% from three. Their only double-digit scorer was Josh Crittle, who picked up 10. For Southern, it was Jeff Early leading the charge with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Anthony Beane had 11 while Kendall Brown-Surles had 12 to go along with 6 assists.

So with those results in place, here are the matchups for Friday's Quarterfinals in Normal:

#1 Illinois State vs. #9 Southern Illinois

#2 DePaul vs. #7 Northwestern

#3 Western Illinois vs. #11 Chicago State

#4 Illinois vs. #5 Bradley

Introducing: The ILLHoops Tournament

With the NCAA Tournament underway, I wanted to hold a tournament of my own to see who was the best basketball team in the state of Illinois. In most cases, one would simply look to the rankings to answer that question. However, things such as injuries and the lack of intrastate matchups during the season keep us from being absolutely certain just who reigns supreme in the Land of Lincoln.

With that, I figured I would use the SimMatchup tool over at whatifsports.com to settle the score. Over the next few days, you will see the results unfold as I find out who the best in the Prairie State truly is.

Today, I simulated a round robin. All thirteen schools faced one another in a home-and-home. I used the rosters as they were on the site, meaning almost everyone was playing at full strength. However, Northwestern's roster lacked the presence of Drew Crawford. If I am able to add him during the tournament phase, I will let you know. With that aside, below are the results:

1. Illinois State: 19-5 (10-2 home, 9-3 road)
2. DePaul: 18-6 (9-3 home, 9-3 road)
3. Western Illinois: 18-6 (9-3 home, 9-3 road)
4. Illinois: 15-9 (9-3 home, 6-6 road)
5. Bradley: 14-10 (6-6 home, 8-4 road)
6. Loyola: 14-10 (7-5 home, 7-5 road)
7. Northwestern: 12-12 (7-5 home, 5-7 road)
8. UIC: 10-14 (6-6 home, 4-8 road)
9. Southern Illinois: 10-14 (5-7 home, 5-7 road)
10. Eastern Illinois: 9-15 (5-7 home, 4-8 road)
11. Chicago State: 8-16 (5-7 home, 3-9 road)
12. SIU Edwardsville: 7-17 (3-9 home, 4-8 road)
13. Northern Illinois: 2-22 (2-10 home, 0-12 road)

DePaul held the tiebreaker over WIU due to beating them 2-0 in their matchups. After splitting their series and having identical records against the top two teams, Bradley beat out Loyola because they went 1-1 against 3rd place Western while the Ramblers went 0-2. UIC beat out SIU because they went 1-1 against DePaul while the Salukis went 0-2.

With these standings in place, these schools will now face off in a single elimination tournament. With the top three teams receiving First Round byes, the opening matchups will be as follows:

#4 Illinois vs. #13 Northern Illinois; winner will face the Bradley/SIUE winner in the next round

#5 Bradley vs. #12 SIU Edwardsville; winner will face the U of I/NIU winner in the next round

#6 Loyola vs. #11 Chicago State; winner will face Western in the next round

#7 Northwestern vs. #10 Eastern Illinois; winner will face DePaul in the next round

#8 UIC vs. #9 Southern Illinois; winner will face Illinois State in the next round

The First Round will be tomorrow at the campus sites of the higher seed. The Quarterfinals on Friday and Semifinals on Saturday will be held at Illinois State. The Finals will be on Sunday at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid into the Coliseum Invitational, which will basically be the national version of this.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. I really like doing these simulation tournaments at the end of each college basketball season. It will be fun to see where this thing leads.

An Illinoisan's Guide to the Tournaments

We are in the midst of March Madness, but after a rousing bout of conference tournaments it is now time to enter the national stage.

For the men, only one team from Illinois made the Big Dance: the Fighting Illini of U of I. Meanwhile, four more teams will be playing in smaller tourneys. For the women DePaul is the only Illinois entry into the NCAAs, while three more teams ended up in the other Field of 64 that is the WNIT.

Below is a profile for each team, including how they got to where they are and where I predict they will finish in their respective tourney.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Illinois
Seed: #7 in the East Region

Next Game: Friday vs. #10 Colorado (Austin, Texas) (3:40 PM CT, TNT)

After starting the season 12-0 the momentum ran out for the Illini as they were 10-12 the rest of the way, including 8-10 in a Big Ten that was extremely competitive this season. The team struggled with shooting (41.6% FG) and rebounding (30.3 RPG) a lot this season. However, if the shots can get going and the team can force enough turnovers, Illinois can be competitive with just about anybody. As a matter of fact, it was strong shooting and forced turnovers that allowed them to get big wins at Gonzaga and against Ohio State.

In my opinion, U of I finds themselves in a rough spot as their first matchup is against Tad Boyle and his Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado's strong suits include defense and rebounding. While there is a good chance that Illinois could get hot on this afternoon, I feel that Colorado is in a better position to frustrate the Illini shooters then pick up the pieces on the boards. Unfortunately, this may be an early exit for Illinois' Flagship School.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL

Western Illinois

Next Game: Wednesday at Purdue (6:00 PM CT, AXS TV)

The 2012-13 season at tiny Western Illinois has been historic...by their standards. As co-regular season champions of the Summit League WIU went 22-8 and had their best season in their 31 years as a Division I program. Known for their slow, methodical offense and stingy defense, the Leathernecks make their second straight appearance in the CBI.

At full strength, WIU would be more than capable of beating Purdue in West Lafayette. However, the Leathernecks have lost sixth-year-senior guard Ceola Clark for the postseason after he went down in their conference tournament loss to North Dakota State. The injury has been revealed to be an ACL tear.

On top of that their frontcourt leader Terell Parks has a foot injury of his own after hurting it in their Bracketbusters matchup against Cleveland State. He has been day-to-day ever since, but hasn't played since that game. If Parks doesn't come back, or he returns and isn't at least 75%, then Western will be out of the CBI rather quickly. I think that grave scenario is the most likely to happen.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT
(The CIT's format is set up such that the bracket for future rounds will be dependent on the results of Tuesday's and Wednesday's opening round games. Because of this, I won't be able to make long-term predictions and can only say if I feel they will win their upcoming matchup.)

Bradley

Next Game: Wednesday vs. Green Bay (7:00 PM CT, watchcollegeinsider.com)

Bradley had a pretty ho-hum season, finishing 16-16 overall and 7-11 in the Missouri Valley. While players such as Walt Lemon, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, and Tyshon Pickett had their strong moments, the team as a whole tended to be largely inconsistent over the course of a full season.

Their first opponent are the Green Bay Phoenix. On paper, they are the superior team by only a little bit. They are a slightly better defensive squad than Bradley and have strong scorers in guard Kiefer Sykes and center Alec Brown. The ace in the hole for Bradley, however, will be the fact that they are good at home (12-4) and Green Bay is bad on the road (4-11). Since the Braves are hosting this on-campus at Renaissance Coliseum, I think they will manage to get the win.

Chicago State & UIC

Next Game: Wednesday at UIC Pavilion (7:00 PM CT, watchcollegeinsider.com)

The Cougars of Chicago State gained an automatic bid into the CIT as the winners of the (most likely final) Great West conference tournament (always nice to leave a conference on top). For their first matchup they won't have to travel too far, as they go from the South Side to the West Side to take on the UIC Flames.

The Flames started the season on fire (I'm so sorry for the pun...no I'm not) as they won nine of their first ten games. From there, the team went 8-14 the rest of the way, including 7-9 in the Horizon League and three different sets of three-game losing skids. Despite that, this year was an improvement as their 17-15 overall record was 9 wins better than the year before.

I'm not going to beat around the bush on this: UIC is going to win this game, and probably easily. UIC went 10-4 at the Pavilion (including 5-0 against teams with RPIs of 200 or more. Chi State has an RPI of 317). Chicago State went 2-15 on the road. I could go deeper than that, but I really think the result of this game comes down to those two statistics.

WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
DePaul

Seed: #10 in the Norfolk Region

Next Game: Sunday vs. #7 Oklahoma State (Durham, North Carolina) (1:35 PM CT, ESPN2)

The Blue Demons and their fast paced, efficient offensive attack went 11-3 in the non-conference season, but was humbled by the Big East schedule and went 9-7 in-conference.

DePaul finds themselves facing the OSU Cowgirls, a team with a more efficient offense and a better defense. This team will most likely find themselves bowing out of the tourney early.

WOMEN'S NIT
Eastern Illinois

Region 2

Next Game: Wednesday at Missouri (Time TBA)

Led by seniors Mariah King and Ta'Kenya Nixon, EIU had a decent season, going 12-4 in the Ohio Valley and 19-11 overall. For the most part, Missouri seems to have the upper hand, as they had no trouble during the season beating down smaller teams and are 14-4 at home. Mizzou is also a better shooting team overall and strong on post defense. Eastern could have a shot if they are able to get their long-range game going and can fight the Tigers on the boards. If I had to chose, though, I think Mizzou will win.

Illinois

Region 2

Next Game: Thursday vs. Miami (Ohio) (7:00 PM CT)

Illinois is team that had its ups and downs this season under first-year coach Matt Bollant. Short-staffed throughout the season, the Illini held up fairly well. The team was lead by Karisma Penn in the middle, but found themselves upset by Wisconsin in the conference tournament.

Coming in, the Illini play host to a Redhawks team that didn't hold up well against superior competition. Illinois has to make sure they dictate the tempo and make sure they get their shots off quickly and efficiently. This is particularly important because they don't play defense very well and Miami is a very good shooting team. I think that U of I and their multiple scoring weapons will be good enough to make it to Round 3, where they could be stopped by a very good Toledo squad.

Illinois State

Region 2

Next Game: Thursday vs. IUPUI (Time TBA)

Illinois State's three-pronged attack of Janae Smith, Candace Sykes, and Jamie Russell managed to carry the Redbirds to a respectable 23-10 record and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley. Their next opponent will be the IUPUI Jaguars, a team whose calling card is their perimeter defense and their ability to force turnovers. However, ISU is more inclined to work the ball inside where the Jaguars struggle due to a size disadvantage. Illinois State should come out on top and could make it to the 4th Round, where I feel they would be stopped by Toledo.

Brandon Paul with the Boom-By-Yay on Trevor Mbakwe

Illinois took a rough loss at home to Minnesota, but U of I fans can take solace in the fact that this dunk happened. Early in the 1st half, Brandon Paul chose to take flight and didn't let anybody - not even Trevor Mbakwe - stand in his way.

When the dust settled, Paul was called for the charge, but the basket was counted anyways. Everybody wins!...well, just Minnesota won.

USC Men's Basketball Stresses Me Out

I'm not sure what lead me to watch last night's UC Irvine-USC matchup, but I did. I'm kind of glad I did, because it allowed me to take a look at a Big Six program in sore need of a change.

Now, though I'm glad I watched the game, the act of watching the game was scressful. Not stressful, scressful. That fact that a major school like USC struggled against an okay mid-major (UCI was picked third in the Big West preseason poll....but it's the Big West....) and then lost irked my soul.

And they looked bad losing. They shot 40% from the field, took ten fewer shots than the Anteaters, and turned the ball over 16 times. Omar Oraby was the only bright spot for the Trojans scoring 12 points in the second half. Senior leader Jio Fontan was anything but, scoring only 2 points off of 1-6 shooting and turning the ball over 4 times. Irvine shot only slightly better (42%), but Daman Starring was able to rack up 23 points. UCI actually had moments where they shot horribly, and the fact that they did shootaround at their school since they were only 45 minutes away instead of at the Galen Center showed. Yet USC still couldn't capitalize.

It was scressful.

It's not as if I just helicoptered in on one game and formed my opinion on that. I've actually seen them in a few more instances in the calender year of 2012. First, there was their Pac-12 Tournament game last season against UCLA at Staples. The Bruins quickly escorted the Trojans out of the building to the tune of 55-40. USC shot 29%, and only five of the seven players that played scored. Three of those seven players have transferred to other programs this season.

Then there was the beatdown they received in Maui at the hands of Illinois. The final score was 94-64, but it was 57-26 at the half. Statistically, USC actually was okay, just off from three (25%) and just below average from the field (44%). They also managed to lead Illinois in the second half 38-37. However it was too little, too late, as the Fighting Illini shot 68.8% and went on a 50-20 run in the first half that put things out of reach early.

Then there was Thursday night. USC came out with an uninspired effort. There was at one point late in the second half when they tried to make a run, but like the Illinois game it was too little, too late.

The Trojans are now 0-3 in games I have watched, and 4-8 (0-1) between the first game I watched and the last one.

It shouldn't be this way. It's shouldn't be this "scressful" to watch USC basketball.

USC plays basketball in the Pac-12 (a pretigous hoops conference) in Los Angeles (a beautiful, entertaining, vibrant metropolitan area AND a decent place to discover high school talent) in the Galen Center (a beautiful 10,000-seat arena). I understand a team hitting a down year in a major conference, but to be this bad over a year-and-a-half span (10-33 from last season to today) with that much working for you is mind-boggling. And they're getting left behind in their own conference: They are the only team below .500 this year in the non-conference schedule.

I can't help but point the finger at Kevin O'Neill. Nothing about his record screams "winner". His record simply shrugs and says "meh". He is in his 16th season as a college head coach. He has made the tournament only four times, and has advanced past the first round once (a 1994 Sweet Sixteen appearance with Marquette). At USC, he has only made one tournament appearance: 2011, where they lost by 13 to eventual Final Four participant VCU.

After the UCI game, Kevin O'Neill pointed out the team's lack of effort in the first half:

"For whatever reason, we ease into every first half," O'Neill said. "We won the second half, but that doesn't matter because we were down by 12 at the half at home."

Also, this:

O'Neill characterized the team as a "rudderless ship in terms of effort and energy.

And then, this:

"The bottom line is, we have a responsibility as individuals to prepare for games and play as hard as we can, and until we do that, we're going to find ourselves on the short end of a lot of things," he said.

But why? 11 games into the season, and the team is still lacking effort? USC is in a conference where they could walk into the NCAA Tournament as long as they play hard. They just have to beat the teams put in front of them by the AD and they can earn an at-large berth. Yet they still lack effort? Lack of talent is one thing. Lack of cohesion is one thing. But considering that they have good talent on paper and neither O'Neill nor Eric Wise, who was also quoted in the story, cited chemistry, then those aren't the cases.

It falls on the coach, either he is not motivating his troops to get up for each game and play 100% for 40 minutes, or he's recruiting guys that lack the work ethic to at least be competitve in the Pac 12.

For all the talk about Ben Howland being a "Fired Man Walking", I'm surprised there isn't any about Kevin O'Neill possibly being shown the door.

Come to think of it, there isn't much talk about USC basketball at all. That's unfortunate. When I was looking for reaction online to the UCI loss, I found little. When I was scouring Twitter for talk about the game, I didn't find much of that either. ESPNLA doesn't even have much coverage of the men's basketball team. It's all football. Football rules at Southern Cal.

That has to change. It's one thing to be a football school, but the least the USC administration could do is work to make their men's basketball team presentable.

Now, to be fair, I'm sure that Kevin O'Neill was hired as a departure from Tim Floyd. Floyd was accused of providing improper benefits to OJ Mayo to get him to come to the school. An NCAA investigation into the issue lead to self-imposed sanctions that vacated 21 wins and saw them withdraw from conference and national postseason consideration in 2009-10, O'Neill's first season.

The mandate on him was probably to focus on graduating players, and he has done a fair job of that with a APR in 2010-2011 of 960. We shall see how the 2011-12 APR looks somewhere down the line. However, success off the court does not necessarily have to forgo success on the court. Teams like Stanford, Duke, and Notre Dame have shown that you can get good players and still keep your academics up. USC needs a coach that can bring in smart AND good, hard-working players. I'm not sure what Kevin O'Neill is bringing in.

Again, I haven't seen much talk about O'Neill going out the door like I have heard about Howland so it might be a longshot to see Kevin going out the door mid-season. Time will tell how much longer AD Pat Haden can tolerate this underacheiving men's hoops program before changes are made.

In the meantime, I'm prepared for more "scressful" hoops as USC approaches their conference schedule.