Gary Williams Retires

After 21 years of coaching the University of Maryland basketball team, legendary head coach Gary Williams has retired - first reported by Fox Sports.

We, Maryland students, alumni and former players and fans alike are: "stunned", "surprised" and "shocked" by this sudden departure. One ESPN user, 1951 USF Dons, said it best:

"Nobody EVER did more with less. He is the only coach to win a National Championship without an [McDonald's] All-American on his roster. All the best, Coach. Fear the Turtle!!!"

We'll Miss You, Gary!

Jordan Williams Declares for the NBA Draft

Yes, according to ESPN980 - the local ESPN radio station - "Sophomore Jordan Williams has filed paperwork to enter his name into the NBA Draft, Maryland head coach Gary Williams announced Tuesday."

The most likely case is that he is just 'testing the waters', and this year being a bad year in terms of star-studded-caliber players joining the draft, there is a slim chance that he will be drafted.

But because Jordan did not sign with an agent, there is a strong likelihood that he will come back and play for the Terps in his junior year.

Refs Ruin Big East Game

In case you have not heard about the biggest story the past two hours, it was how Rutgers University got robbed of a chance to tie or possibly win in their first-round matchup against St. John's at the famous Madison Square Garden; I'll also discuss how this game reminded me of the "Ruffin the Puffin" problem that took place nine years ago.

First, some background:

The referees at this game, Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton, have been calling a very inconsistant game - or so I have heard. I just tuned in the last 17 seconds left of the game. But what happened in the last seven seconds will live in infamy.

Rutgers is set to inbound the ball from the opposing end and no timeouts left. They are down by two points with seven seconds left in the game. The player throws it to their own three-point-line, where the ball is deflected by one Rutgers' player and two St. Johns' players (mistake #1) into the hands of Rutgers forward Justin Brownlee. Brownlee, not knowing how much time is left on the clock, streaks down the left side of the court - without dribbling (mistake #2) - and steps out-of-bounds (mistake #3) with 1.7 seconds left.

The referees at this point are: a) Talking to the Rutgers' head coach about mistake #1; b) Looking half-heartedly at Brownlee; c)Not paying attention to the game.

The refs called nothing as the buzzer sounded - walking into the tunnel immediately while the coaches and players were shaking hands. As one of my friends would say: "Un-F***ing-believable."

Here's the last seven seconds, in real speed:





The referees should NOT be allowed to ref any Big East tournament game in the near future (basically, they should be suspended indefinitely), based on what they did in this important first-round match. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas also agrees with me:

Here's what ESPN's Scott Van Pelt and Bill Simmons also tweeted:

@notthefakeSVP: To be fair, Rutgers still would have needed to make a bucket with 1.7 but my God - the refs just stopped working the game. Pitiful

@sportsguy33: Tim Donaghy thinks the 3 Rutgers-Johnnie's refs were superb today.

This Big East game reminded me of a game that occurred in the NBA nine years ago - the infamous Michael Ruffin game. In this case, the Raptors, down by 3 (99-96), were inbounding in a similar situation to the Rutgers game. Washington Wizard power forward Michael Ruffin immediately caught the pass at the similar spot, then flung the ball straight up in the air. Ex-Toronto Raptors' guard Morris Peterson then flung a miracle three-point shot that banked in to tie the game. (The Wiz, out of bewilderment, ended up losing badly in OT)






In both cases, there was some stupidity involved with a certain person on the court, and that there was a terrible, egregious ending for one team (the Wizards and the Scarlet Knights).

So, that's the Controversial Sports News of the Day.

Signing off, Sameer.

Scott Van Pelt Rant

In case you did not hear, University of Maryland alumnus and current ESPN commentator/Radio Host Scott Van Pelt went on a three-minute, sixteen second tirade against the Maryland students and how they were NOT at yesterday's Florida State - Maryland basketball game (that included me).

Here's my take on yesterday's situation:

Yesterday was Wednesday and the start of exam week. So, many of my friends were studying for upcoming exams (that were not necessarily on Thursday); also, with the previous losses to Boston College and Virginia Tech (both sweeps), I, along with many other students, thought Maryland will NOT make the tourney (the NCAA tournament in mid-March); I usually tag along with my friends. If none of my friends on my floor of the dorm were going, then I wouldn't go and instead watch the game on tv; and the Duke game passed a month ago, so it's not worth going to even Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) games, because it won't amount to anything. Last year, the Duke game at home was the last home game, which is why most students went to every home game during the academic school year (excluding Winter Break games).

Picture taken by UMD student/Men's beat reporter Chris Eckard

As students, we do a scan-and-leave process, where we check in before the start of games and immediately exit, resulting in check-in 'points' for each game. Not going to games (while getting tickets for the game) results in a deduction of points - so if we get a free ticket, then we mainly do the scan-&-leave process - which is why the Comcast Center was 3/4 empty yesterday. But I should've gone to the game yesterday, since we won - 78-62 - in which we were only up by one at halftime.

I, along with thousands of other students, will make the final trek to Comcast Center on March 5 (a Saturday), since it's the last game of the season and the last game for Dino Gregory, Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie. And, it's against our cross-state rivals, the Virginia Cavaliers.

Crazy Shot by Kemba Walker

If you do not know who Kemba Walker is, let me fill you in: he's one of the top players in the nation in college basketball, shoots lights-out, and is a one-man wrecking crew for the #9 Connecticut Huskies.

Today, he had one heck of a shot in overtime against the #12-ranked Texas Longhorns:



That was no ordinary shot with the shot clock expiring and the game tied at 77-all with two minutes left in the extra session.
That shot saved the game for the Huskies in a high-profile nonconference matchup - they ended up winning, 82-81.

Damn, That's Nasty!

First, the block by senior point guard Sean Mosley, then the alley-oop from Cliff Tucker to sensational sophomore forward Jordan Williams FOR THE THROWDOWN!

A Wisconsin Wallop

When I saw the score between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Indiana Hoosiers on the ESPN bottom line, I thought I was seeing the basketball game between the two Big Ten schools:

83-20? With their star running back out with a leg injury? Wow. Just wow. Wisconsin has quietly been creeping into the Top-10 with an impressive 9-1 record. Watch out for these Badgers!

I wonder how many pushups Bucky did during the game?

Better Shimmy?

This tweet by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kevin Durant got me thinking... who does have the better shimmy? I'll let you take a look and decide for yourself.

Greivis Vazquez	Antoine Walker

I think, hands-down, Greivis has the best shimmy, and is more creative with it.

What do you guys think?

Wow... Long Time no Post!

After a 2-year-long hiatus, I look forward to posting my musings on daily sports news, such as:

* The NBA is introducing H-O-R-S-E to the All-Star festivities on Saturday, February 14 (Valentine's Day). I wonder who the three participants will be? LeBron, Kobe and Wade? Now that would be something to see. Outdoors, you say? Now, that will be a little different...

Hopefully, the event won't be this bad:



(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/02/03/all.star.horse.ap/index.html)

* Speaking of All-Star festivities, I disagree that there was a fan vote to include a ROOKIE to take part in the Slam Sunk contest. Wasn't it the norm to have 5+ players dunk and have many rounds and no multiple trials? Now the dunk contest has a subpar dunker (Rudy Fernandez) with three superior dunkers.



This may happen to Rudy if he tries out a dunk on All-Star Saturday night.

* I like the All-Star game rosters, though I believe Allen Iverson robbed a young guard (i.e. Rondo, Mo Williams, Devin Harris... etc.) from a starting guard position. That is a travesty. I believe the coaches and players should also have a say in choosing the starting All-Star lineups.

* Speaking of the NBA, what a performance by Kobe Bryant yesterday! See for yourself:



Wowza! In addition, Pau Gasol - Kobe's sidekick - had 31 points of his own, making that: 61 + 31 = 92 points just from this tandem.

I think that one day Kobe will eclipse 100 points. It's just a matter of When.

* I was listening to the radio today (ESPN980 - Washington DC ESPN Radio) with the Sports Reporters and listened to the most BIZARRE talk about how Manny... yes, that Manny... could be going to the Nats...

HOW RIDICULOUS! INSANE! this won't happen in a MILLION years!

* What happened to the excellent local college basketball teams? Maryland (14-8, 3-5) and Georgetown (13-8, 4-6) used to have an excellent programs and above .500 conference records, and now are shriveling up! Both might be on the outside looking in come March Madness! Even teams such as Virginia Tech, Providence and Boston College have better records then these teams. I'm also hearing rumors that Gary Williams could be fired soon, but that's not likely...

* I HATE how people - commentators and columnists included - are calling this past Sunday's Super Bowl as the BEST ever. How does this Super Bowl surpass Super Bowl XLVII, with the Eli-scramble-and-Tyree-helmet-glued-to-ball play? There were WAY TOO MANY penalties, esp. holding penalties in the game. One penalty that stood out was the roughing-the-passer penalty on the Cards when there should have been an intentional grounding penalty on big Ben Roethlisberger (yay! i spelled Ben's last name correctly w/o checking online!).

Well, that's all for today. But before I'll leave, I'll include a video of the day. Today's is from the 2008 ESPY awards acknowledging the best of all sports from 2007-2008.

Enjoy!

March Madness '07!

This has been a crazy, yet predictable NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament this March. There has been a lot learned this year, such as rooting for the teams that start with "V" - Vanderbilt, Vegas (UNLV), Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), and Virginia. Nearly all of the games were predictable, for it was easy for a person to get every pick right in the NCAA tourney brackets.

In the first round of the tourney, there were some upsets, ranging from ninth-ranked Purdue defeating eighth-ranked Arizona, to the biggest upset - VCU beating Duke - once an almighty powerhouse in the tourney. The only other upset was Xavier (#9) defeating BYU (#8). Although 11th-ranked Winthrop beat 6th-ranked Notre Dame, Winthrop was considered the better team - by far. An astonishing victory was Vandy's clobbering of the University of George Washington, by 33 points!!! Surprisingly there was only three first-round upsets out of the 32 total games played in the first round. :O <-- A surprised smiley. In the second round, there was four upsets total - UNLV surprisingly trouncing 2nd-ranked Wisconsin, one of three big upsets in the entire tournament - USC beating Texas, Vandy shocking 3rd-ranked Washington State, and Tennessee defeating 4th-ranked UVa. The third huge upset in the entire tourney was USC shockingly defeating Texas, since Texas was led by AP player of the year and a freshman - Kevin Durant. Many people predicted Texas to reach the sweet sixteen, or even the elite eight, against UNC (The other crucial upset was VCU's victory over Duke). The only staggering defeats from the sweet sixteen forward was 2nd-ranked UCLA defeating #1 Kansas and #2 Georgetown defeating #1 UNC - both games taking place in the elite eight. Amazingly, the tourney will end with a January basketball and the BCS National Championship game rematch of Ohio State University against the returning champion, the veteran Florida Gators. I, like many other basketball fanatics, made my own predictions of the NCAA tournament. In the first round, i had Arizona defeating Purdue and Georgia Tech defeating UNLV in the Midwest region. In the West region, i predicted Illinois defeating VT (Virginia Tech), Duke defeating VCU and Gonzaga defeating Indiana. In the East region, i had Arkansas defeating USC - like many sports commentators predicted - and both GW and Oral Roberts shocking Vandy and Washington State. All of these picks in the first round were wrong - 75% of my picks were correct. In the second round, there was only half as many mistakes made. I foolishly predicted Michigan State to beat top-ranked UNC and was surprised by the results of the other four games that i missed - UNLV defeating Wisconsin, USC defeating Texas, and Vandy defeating Washington State (in double overtime!).

From this point onto the National Championship game, all but one of the games i predicted are correct. The only game i missed was the Memphis-Texas A&M match. I thought Acie Law IV would dominate and shock this underrated Memphis team. Boy, was i wrong! I luckily foresaw the final four teams - Georgetown, OSU, Florida and UCLA, and even the National Championship game, between OSU and Florida. I was shocked (in a good way) that i foresaw this Championship matchup.

What a tourney this has been in March!

The Year that was 2006

From T.O suspected of having an overdose on pills to the St. Louis Cardinals winning the MLB World Series, this has been a wacky year in sports.

In January, we saw the thrilling national championship in NCAA football between the University of Southern California Trojans against the Texas Longhorns. What a game! USC seemed to have the game under control, with Matt Leinart at the helm and LenDale White, not Reggie Bush, running wild. Then came the ultimate turning point in the game. After making a nice catch and run of 31 yards, Reggie Bush tried to lateral the ball to another USC player but ended up coughing up the ball and losing possession. From that point onward, the tide had turned and it was Vince Young's moment to shine. He scored three touchdowns in total, two in the final quarter and the Texas defense stopped the Trojans on a fourth and two from USC's 45 yard line with two minutes left to capture the victory and snap the Trojans' 34-game winning streak.

In February, came the NBA All-Star weekend, where Dirk Nowitski, a seven-foot power forward, won the three-point shooting contest and lil' Nate Robinson, at five feet nine inches, won the slam dunk contest. In the all-star game, King James took charge, leading the East to a come-from-behind victory, 122-120, over the West.

In March, the NCAA basketball tourney was underway, and my, was there a shocker! The number eleven seed in the Washington D.C. region, the George Mason Patriots of the Colonial Athletic Association, went all the way to the Final Four, upsetting #7 Witchita State Shockers first, then #6 Michigan State, then #3 North Carolina, with Freshman Tyler Hansborough leading the Tar Heels, and lastly, beating #1 UConn in overtime before losing to the eventual National Champions, the Florida Gators, led by the powerful center Jokakim Noah. (Who shares the same birthday as me!)

In April, the NFL draft was held. The Houston Texans chose defensive end Mario Williams as the first pick in the draft, a surprising move given that Reggie Bush is a more explosive player. The Denver Broncos moved up from the fifteenth pick in the draft to the twelfth pick to select Jay Cutler, a quarterback out of the University of Vanderbilt. The steal of the draft was a three-way tie: Chicago, with the 57th pick, choosing speedy kick returner and punt returner Devin Hester from the U, Jacksonville, with the 60th pick, choosing pinball Maurice Jones-Drew from UCLA, and New Orleans, choosing Marques Colston, from Hofstra, with the 225th pick in the Draft. All had excellent seasons with their respective teams.

In May, Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth for second all-time in career home runs, hitting 715 on May 28. Also, the NBA playoffs were at its peak, with the Phoenix Suns coming back from a 3-1 game deficit against the L.A. Lakers to beat them and, in the second round, beating the L.A. Clippers. The best series, though, was between the best two teams in the Western Conference - the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. The Miami Heat advanced to the Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, and the Mavericks faced the Suns in the Western Conference finals.

In June, the FIFA World Cup started, as well as the NBA Finals. In the World Cup in Germany, the following teams made it to the round of sixteen: Germany, Sweden, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Ukraine, Switzerland, England, Ecuador, Portugal, Netherlands, Brazil, Ghana, Spain and France. By the semifinals, the teams left were Germany and Italy and Portugal and France. The Germany-Italy game was a game of the ages. Italy ended up winning the entire tourney, defeating headbutting Zinedine Zidane and the French team, in penalty kicks, after the score was tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime.

In July, the Tour de France started, but there was no final victor. The winner, Floyd Landis, tested positive for an illegal substance and had his prize taken away. Also, the MLB All-Star game was played, with the American League coming back from 2-1 to win 3-2, thanks to Texas Rangers' shortstop Michael Young, who won it on a game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth inning.

In August, the NFL preseason and the NCAA football season were underway.

In September, the NFL season started, while the MLB season came to an end. The Chicago Bears held the Green Bay Packers scoreless, 26 - 0, The Baltimore Ravens held the Tampa Bay Bucs scoreless, 27 - 0, sacking the Bucs' QB three times and picking him off three times, The Seattle Seahawks won 9-6, thanks to a last-second Josh Brown field goal, and Peyton Manning defeated his brother, 26-21 in the first week of the NFL regular season.

Sang to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas," this is how the NFL regular season went:

"On the first week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the second week of the season, the NFL gave to me: T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the third week of the season the NFL gave to me: Chris Simms losing his spleen,
T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the fourth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the fifth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the sixth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the seventh week of the season, the NFL gave to me: A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the eighth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the ninth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the tenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the eleventh week of the season, the NFL gave to me: two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the twelfth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the thirteenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: Four Reggie Bush TD's, Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the fourteenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: No Colts' run defense, Four Reggie Bush TD's, Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the fifteenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: LT breaking three NFL records, No Colts' run defense, Four Reggie Bush TD's, Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the sixteenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: A Bengals' botched extra-point attempt, LT breaking three NFL records, No Colts' run defense, Four Reggie Bush TD's, Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

"On the seventeenth week of the season, the NFL gave to me: A Detroit Lions victory, A Bengals' botched extra-point attempt, LT breaking three NFL records, No Colts' run defense, Four Reggie Bush TD's, Jason Campbell's first win, two 80-yard Lee Evans TD's, Devin Hester's 108-yard TD run, A Nick Novak GW FG against the 'Boys, LT running wild, A Matt Bryant GW 62-yard FG, two Redskins tickets, Reggie Bush's first TD, Santana Moss catching a 68 yard bomb in OT, Chris Simms losing his spleen, T.O. breaking his hand, and Peyton defeating Eli on National T.V."

March Madness!

March Madness is finally here! In this month alone, the #1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, and the 25th ranked teams have at least lost one game.

The number one team in the nation, Connecticut, lost a overtime game to the upset-minded Gerry MacNamera and his Syracuse Orangemen on Friday. They still will be a number one seeded team in the NCAA Tournament.

The number two team in the nation, the Villanova Wildcats, also lost a second-round Big East Tournament matchup on Friday against the Pittsburgh Panthers. They too, like Connecticut, will be a #1 seeded team in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke, the soon-to-be #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, actually lost two ACC games before its conference tournament got underway. They lost consecutive battles to unranked Florida State and tenth ranked North Carolina, but are still ranked as a #3 seed overall.

The #5 Memphis Tigers lost to the University of Alabama-Birmingham(UAB) on March 2nd, but recovered and beat the same team in the Conference USA Final last Saturday. That loss won't effect their chances at a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

George Washington (No, not the first president of the US, but the university) surprisingly lost in the opening round of their tournament to the unranked Temple Owls. That might hurt their chances as a number one seed come the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. They will end up as a number two seed, because of their "Easy" schedulethis year.

The Texas Longhorns, the eighth ranked team in the AP Rankings, lost to Texas A&M on the first day of March, but are storming back. They will get a number 2/3 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It would be a remarkable achievement if these Longhorns win the NCAA Tournament (The same university won the NCAA Football Title Game last January). I highly doubt it though.

Last Friday, even the ninth ranked Illinois Fightin' illini lost. They fell to the Michigan State Spartans in the second round of their Big Ten Tournament, which might have cost them a number two seed in the NCAA Tourney.

North Carolina, rival to the Duke Blue Devils, also lost a game, this time to newcomer Boston College in the semifinal round of the ACC Tourney on Saturday. Since they are a young team (starting three freshmen this year) they might get a number three seed in the Tourney.

In the first round of the Pacific-Ten tourney, the Washington Huskies (#12) got upset by the Oregon Mighty Ducks. I think they will end up as a number three seed in the Tourney.

Like Duke, the Tennessee Volunteers (#14) lost twice this month, against rival Kentucky, and in the opening round of the SEC Tourney. They are the surprising cinderella team this year, and I will give them a #2 seed in the Tourney.

The same thing happened to UPitt (University of Pittsburgh) Panthers yesterday. They lost in the Big East Final against the Orangemen, and also surprisingly lost on March 3rd against Seton Hall. Those losses might dampen their chances as a number three seed, and might get the fourth seed.

The eighteenth-ranked Louisianna State University Tigers (LSU) lost against the streaking Florida Gators in the semifinals of the SEC Tourney. They have played well this year, and they might end up as a number 4/5 seed come the Tourney.

The University of West Virginia Mountaineers (UWV) are also another team that has not played to its standard this month, losing two crucial games, one to the Cinncinati Bearcats and another to those Panthers. They have had an up-and-down season, and will get a 3 seed, if they are lucky.

The twenty-second ranked Oklahoma Soonershave also lost two straight games, their last one being a stunner. They lost to the Longhorns and to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, respectively. Don't be surprised if they end up getting a 5/6/7 seed in the Tourney.

The next team, the Georgetown Hoyas, under the son of the legendary coach John Thompson, have gradually been another one of those surprising teams this year, despite their last loss to the Orangemen this month. They will get a 5 seed in the tourney.

UAB, the team that last defeated the Tigers, are coming up strong as the Tourney approaches. They are the 24th ranked team in the country, and might get a 6th seed in the Tourney.

The last team in the AP top 25 is the North Carolina State Wolfpack . They have defeated GW once and the University of Miami twice, but are right now on a four game losing streak. I doubt that this team would get in the upcoming Tourney.

These are my predictions on the NCAA Tournament that gets underway on Tuesday. I might be wrong, but don't be surprised if my predictions are correct.