The Enlightenment Period of NCAA Tournament selection has come and gone. Once again, we are back in the Dark Ages. And the tournament is far more soulless for it.
Author: Adam Glatczak
Selection Sunday morning: One projection of the NCAA Tournament field
Virtually every season as the NCAA Tournament nears, the talk of bracket projections revolves around that season havng a “soft bubble.” It’s often as much of an exaggeration as it is incorrect-you can’t have a soft bubble every year-but this year it’s also not true.
The Morning Dish – Sunday, March 13, 2016
There will be flashier teams in the NCAA Tournament this year than Middle Tennessee State. There will be teams with more stars, and there will be hotter picks for underdogs to pull upsets, too. Few teams have taken as much of a complete team effort on the court to get an NCAA bid this year, though, than the Blue Raiders.
The Morning Dish – Friday, March 11, 2016
Coaches such as Jim Valvano, Rollie Massimino and Tom Izzo are among those to make the month of March their personal playground over the years, regularly leading teams on extended runs, regardless of the strength of their teams in the regular season. Few would include Ray Harper on that list, but it has become time that they should.
The Morning Dish – Thursday, March 10, 2016
In an ultracompetitive league where four teams finished tied for fourth place, third through eighth were separated by three games and no less than six teams had winning streaks of at least five games in conference play, it’s the team that went 0-9 on the road in conference play and finished ninth overall that is the tournament champion.
The Morning Dish – Wednesday, March 8, 2016
It’s been a combined 30 years since Wisconsin-Green Bay and Fairleigh Dickinson have made the NCAA Tournament. For that reason and many others, both will be very welcome additions to this year’s NCAA tourney field.
Final Arch Madness Notes: Washpun adds to UNI tradition of big shots
Maurice Newby. Ben Jacobson (the player, not the coach). Ali Farokhmanesh. Wes Washpun. A growing history of memorable buzzer-beating shots is building at Northern Iowa. Not coincidentally, so is a record of postseason success.
Despite Arch Madness loss, Southern Illinois “is back” behind always-entertaining Hinson
Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson: “I don’t mind saying this. I’ll say this proudly. Saluki basketball is back. We’re back. We’re back. Period. And I’m proud to say that.”
The Morning Dish – Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Tthe unabashed chaos of the conference tournaments this year may have reached a climax Monday night, with a pair of teams losing-and maybe even three-who will now be talked about at length for the next week. Then again, the night was pretty much par for the course for this season, so we shouldn’t be surprised in the least if/when it continues.
Evansville continues almost-silent consistency in Arch Madness win over Missouri State
Seventh-seeded Missouri State had No. 2 seed Evansville right where it wanted in the teams’ Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal Thursday night-tie game, 15 minutes to play, pressure squarely on the higher seed. Then, with quiet efficiency on its next three possessions against the Bears’ matchup zone defense, the Purple Aces scored six straight points-layup, layup, two free throws. Evansville would not trail again.
