Stomp The Lunatic

Could it be a sign of things to come. Regardless – congratulations go out to the Wichita State Shockers for winning the NIT. After being considered one of the top mid-majors all season – no one complained when the Shockers didn’t make the NCAA Tournament despite a 14-4 record in the Missouri Valley. Apparently, their biggest crime was not winning enough big games – although their losses by 4 to Connecticut and 1 to VCU don’t look as bad in hind-sight.

Tonight, Wichita State upset Alabama to take the NIT – after also beating Nebraska, Virginia Tech, College of Charleston, and Washington State. Even if it is the NIT, that is a pretty solid group of teams – once again, as much as I don’t like it, maybe expansion wasn’t that crazy of an idea.

OK – to be fair, I guess I should congratulate Santa Clara for winning the CIT. However, there was not a single major conference school in that tournament – so it doesn’t seem fair to say – Look at the mid-majors win the CIT – since it was kind of guaranteed.

That being said if Creighton beats Oregon at home on Friday night, the mid-majors will be 3 for 3….

Anyways, hopefully it will be a sign of things to come – and eitherButleror VCU will continue to help the mid-majors claim the championships.

Reading a couple of comments from the ESPN Blog – after a writer asked if the VCU run actually warranted expansion.

Eamonn Brennan – Oh my god, no. Please never say that again. Take a look at the NIT bracket and tell me you want to see any of those teams in this tournament. No thanks.

Jay Bilas – Final Four or out in 1st Round, Selection argument against VCU and UAB still the same. Neither w/ better credentials than CU, VT, UA, SM

Eamonn Brennan – I mean, stubborn though it is, I agree with Bilas. Saying VCU has proven the selection argument wrong is like saying Ohio State shouldn’t have been a No. 1 seed because they lost. That’s not how it works

While I appreciate sticking to your statements, since Bilas criticized the committee for including VCU and UAB, I don’t think you can have it both ways. First of all, Alabama and Colorado are still playing – reaching the semi-finals of the NIT. So, yes, I would have been interested to see how they could have done against the NCAA teams. But at the end of day, the Selection Committee’s job is to identify the teams that are best capable of winning the National Championship. The fact that you think Alabama, Colorado, Virginia Tech and St. Mary’s belonged in the tournament before VCU and UAB means that you think at this point that the tournament should be expanded further because you believe those teams also could win the tournament and they got left out. But to continue to make the argument that a school at VCU who has made the Final Four shouldn’t have made the tournament is insane. At a certain point, you should either let the topic drop or admit you were wrong about the Rams. But to stubbornly continue to say that they shouldn’t have even been in the tournament is silly.

Needed to do some quick checks. Right now, the only movement can happen on the Kentucky / Connecticut side. No one was brave enough to pick either Butler or VCU to get to the championship game. So, that means that those who have the original favorites like Ohio State or Kansas will be rooting for the small schools to stop any potential large amount of scoring.

But, there were 32 people (22 for Connecticut, 10 for Kentucky) who still have a chance to get points in the semi-finals, and 17 of them (11 for Connecticut, 6 for Kentucky) have a chance with them as their champions!

Also, a special call out to Cooper Ams and Deborah Waite who were the only two people to get Butler correct in the SE region. Of course, even with the local fans, no one was brave enough to take VCU to win the SW region. Although we have a few more brave fans in the Second Chance Pool….

So, looks like the pool will come down to the 32 people who have either Connecticut or Kentucky to continue farther in the tournament (and those in the top 10 hoping they have enough points to hold the others off).

We have co-leaders in the Standard Pool, and neither of them are named Brent Peterson (he has slipped to 12th place – a constant reminder to me of how it is perfectly possible to be tremendously good at picking the games, but if you end up having a bad round in the Elite 8, Final 4, and Championship, it can quickly slip away).

Those leaders are Patrick Booth and Rebecca Shipp – who both correctly got Kentucky and Connecticut of the Final 4 to take the lead. The are followed closely by Cooper Ams (40 behind), kyn8iv (40 behind – apparently as much as I try to get names, I still end up not knowing at least one of the leaders), Harold Ingram (50), Rob Bradley (50), Bill Gemmill (70) and Elizabeth Kinzie (70).

In the upset pool, Logan Horgan has taken the lead with 273 points thank to picking Kentucky. Our potential 2 year old champion is followed by Deborah Waite (10 pts), Rob Bradley (14), Cooper Ams (24) and Brent Peterson (31).

And in the Second Chance Pool, we have a 6 way tie for the lead at the top. Bill Gemmill, Cooper Ams, Elizabeth Kinzie, Jan Palmore, Joshua Lacks and Michelle Ams all are tied at 400 pts.

Good luck to the few of you who still have the chance to make ground in the pool (or for those of you hoping that the upsets will continue so you can stay on the leaderboard.

In a year of upsets, there was only one appropriate way for the Kentucky-North Carolina game. And since the Lunatic was rooting for the Tar Heels, we all know what that means. The Kentucky Wildcats become the final team to punch their ticket to Houston and the Final Four!

Thanks to the Wildcats victory, we have the first tournament where not only do we have no #1 seeds, we also don’t have any 2 seeds either. In 1980, Louisville was a 2 seed – and in 2006, UCLA was a 2 seed.

In 2011, we have Connecticut – a 3 seed, Kentucky – a 4 seed, Butler – a 8 seed, and VCU – a 11 seed. And of course, because it will make sense, the 3 and 4 seeds will play each other, and the 8 and 11 seeds will play each other.

• So, this means that we have a record of a 3 seed being the favorite (based on seeds) going into the Final 4.
• We have a record number when you add up the seeds (26).
• I haven’t looked, but I imagine the 37 losses between the 4 teams is a record (Kentucky has the least with 8 losses).
• VCU ties the record of the highest seed to make the Final 4 (with George Mason -2006 and LSU – 1986).
• And the winner of the Butler – VCU game will go into the record books as the highest seed to make the championship game (Butler would tie the 1985 Villanova team which was an 8 seed – obviously VCU would be the first 11 seed to make it.

Hopefully that will lead to an unpredictable Final Four – how crazy would it be if Butler or VCU was the 2011 champions! One can only hope!!!!

Butler is not your team. That is because destiny has been fulfilled!!!!!! And the city of Richmond will be a crazy hoops city for one more week. That is because the 11 seeded – had to play their way into the field in the First Four – VCU Rams jumped out to an 18 point first half lead, and then withstood a few runs in the second half from the Kansas Jayhawks to punch their ticket to Houston and the Final Four.

This will guarantee a mid-major Cinderella team will make the championship game, as VCU will next face last year’s darling – the Butler Bulldogs. And with most of being from Richmond, it is only obvious that our team is the VCU RAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hats off to the Rams for pulling off the most improbable run from the First Four to the Final Four. The CBS broadcast proudly put on the screen that this was the school’s first Final 4 appearance ever – which Elizabeth and me have thought humorous since they had also proudly put that fact that it was their first Sweet 16 appearance in school history, and first Elite 8 appearance in school history. However, here is the real fact that is interesting. VCU will forever go down in history as the first school to ever win 5 games in the tournament to get to the Final 4.

Hats off to the Selection Committee as well for taking a chance on the Rams – it was highly criticized when it first happened, and yet here are the Rams still playing. Just think, 3 of the First 4 teams would not have been in the tournament had it not been for the expansion that everyone in the media has criticized to anyone willing to listen – whether it be how weak the bubble was or how there was no reason to change such a great tournament.

Congratulations to the VCU Rams – you are our team!!!!!!!! And you have made yourselves, the university, and the city of Richmond extremely proud of you!!!! Here’s hoping that there are two more victories in your future!