Winners and Losers of Sweet 16 Thursday

Half of the Elite 8 is set. Syracuse, Louisville, Ohio State and Florida advance. Daily Onions was 2-2 last night in our picks (Marquette and Michigan State). Let's see who else were winners and losers last night.

Fair busts out of slump vs. Wisco (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Basketball - Seems kind of simple, right? Well the game of basketball was a winner last night with the Syracuse and Wisconsin game. Whether you are a fan of Otto or Bucky, you HAD to enjoy watching that game last night. One of the best all around played games in a while by two teams in the tournament. You had the athleticism, length and uptemponess (new word) of Syracuse, against the smart, patient, sharpshooters from Wisconsin. The Badgers hit 14 3 pointers in the game, including a stretch of six in a row. But every time they made a run, Syracuse was able to bounce back and answer. Eventually, Wisconsin's shots weren't falling, thanks to Syracuse extending the zone and a little regression to the mean. One other note, good to have Brandon Triche and CJ Fair back doing their thing for the 'Cuse.

Loser: That Awful Camera Angle - Note to CBS and TBS, let's try and stay away from the over-the-court angle that makes you feel like you are even further from the action. Keep it simple.

Winner: Coaching Trees - Rick Pitino was one of Jim Boeheim's first assistants. Pitino then went on coach Billy Donovan at Providence (as well as a short stint with the Knicks). After working on Wall Street for a year, Donovan became an assistant for Pitino at Kentucky. Now, all three of these coaches are in the Elite 8, with Pitino and Donovan squaring off against each other in the West Regional Final.

Loser: Lesley Visser's Face in HD - We don't want to be disrespectful, but come on. Her face just isn't normal anymore, and it's actually frightening. I remember watching Visser as a sideline reporter when I was growing up. She was always solid. But I think it's time for her to hang up the microphone.

Louisville in Orange (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Orange - Congratulations to all the teams that wore Orange last night, as you were a winner. Syracuse defeated Wisconsin, Florida beat Marquette, and Louisville beat Michigan State.

Winner: Draymond Green - Yes, we know that Michigan State lost, but how can you not like this kid. Everybody loves Draymond. Classy kid on and off the court. Probably came into this season with a ceiling of being a very good college basketball player, and a quick flame out in the NBA. This year though, he led the Spartans from unranked to a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Put Draymond Green on a perennial contender in the NBA and I think he becomes a solid contributor. It's been fun watching Green over the past few years. Too bad he didn't go to Duke...then Dick Vitale would have been comparing him to Derek Jeter all year long.

Loser: The State of Wisconsin - It was a rough night for all the cheese heads. Not only did Wisconsin fall to Syracuse in a heartbreaker, but Marquette couldn't hit an open shot and lost to Florida. We really liked Marquette this season, but if you don't make open shots you aren't going to win Sweet 16 games. Actually, if you do make open shots, you still might not win Sweet 16 games (see: Wisconsin).

Winner: Bill Raftery - Last but not least....this is obvious. Raftery was on point during the Syracuse - Wisconsin game. His greatest work came during Syracuse's first half run. There was a little lingerie on the deck after a Dion Waiters spin cycle. Then Waiters hit a high arching jumper, to which Raftery exclaimed, "It came down wet!" He then followed that up with a jab at a round Derrick Coleman (he was available?!) in the stands ("No Church League for that guy!"). See for yourself.

Swimming and Kicking at NCAA Tourney Open Practices

Prior to the Sweet 16 and Final 4 games, the NCAA hosts "open practices" to the public, where you can come in and watch the teams on the court for an hour or so. Don't expect to see what the team's gameplan will be, though. You mostly get lots of shooting drills, lots of fancy dunks in layup lines, maybe see the team run through a few sets, and barely see the coaches or players break a sweat. With that said, its cool for the fans to get a behind the scenes look at some top programs in the country.

The highlight of the open practice is the half-court shootout to end practice. All teams do it differently. It could be a nonchalant group of guys chucking it up from center court. Others will have two teams to see who can make more shots in a certain amount of time. During the season, Butler's basketball team (and you thought you wouldn't see them in a NCAA tourney post), finishes their day of game walk thru on the road with assistant coaches, radio guys, trainers, etc shooting from half court, with the players watching. Practice isn't officially over until someone makes it. Brad Stevens became a bit superstitious when he realized that when a certain staff member made it, the team would play poorly. Prior to the UIC game, that person wasn't allowed to shoot, and Butler won a few hours later.

Back to the Sweet 16 open practices. Two great videos below. The first is Marquette's head coach, Buzz Williams (who we have in the Final Four), sinking a half court shot and then doing his best Michael Phelps impersonation.

The next video doesn't come on a half court shot, but still pretty impressive. Syracuse walk-on Brandon Reese, who is listed at 5-11 (on two phone books), goes up for an alley-oop (impressive that he can get up that high), can't quite throw it down, but uses his foot to put the ball through the hoop. Check it out.


Less than nine hours away until the Sweet 16 tips off. In no particular order, here are our picks for the next round of games: Syracuse over Wisconsin (sending Bo Ryan to vacation in South Jersey), Michigan State over Louisville, Ohio State over Cincy, Marquette over Florida. Big East sends 2 of 4 teams to the Elite 8. Tomorrow night, we got Baylor over Xavier, UNC over Ohio, Kentucky over Indiana and Kansas over NC State. Yes, you can call us Chalky White.

(videos courtesy of muathletics and fizzfirst on youtube)

I Wanna Dance with Somebody...from the Big East

With Selection Sunday just 20 days away...yes, 20 days...we wanted to explore who'd be dancing from the Big East Conference. You might be saying, anyone can look at the standings and figure who the best teams in the conference are. That may be true. But can anyone predict who will make the Tournament while also comparing the teams to, and in turn honoring, the late, great Whitney Houston? Challenge accepted.

1. Syracuse - "Greatest Love of All" or "I Will Always Love You" - No brainer here. The only school that I've ever truly loved, and will love forever. Syracuse has been in control of the conference since Day 1. They look to be in the drivers seat for a #1 seed in the Big Dance as well (most likely in the East), which would mean opening round games in Pittsburgh, and Sweet 16/Elite 8 games in Baaaahston. Even at 27-1, the Orange have their flaws. If they don't fix the rebounding woes that have hurt them all season, there could be an upset before New Orleans.
Bold Prediction: The Final Four is on Bourbon Street, and Jimmy B has been there in '87 and '03. Why not just invite him and the Orange back for '12, as well.

2. Marquette - "It's Not Right, But It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)" - The Golden Eagles beat Syracuse during the regular season last year, and then knocked them out in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. If I had to root for another Big East school this year, it'd be Marquette (It's not right, but it's okay). I don't know about you, but Marquette scares the crap out of me. They are a tough as nails team, have a crazy coach (in a good way, not in a Frank Martin/Mike Rice way), have a couple of guys that are seniors and have been there before (Crowder and Johnson-Odom), and there have been at least three or four games this year in which they've been down by at least 15 points, and have come back to win the game.
Bold Prediction: They not only make a run to Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in the final "real" Big East Tournament, and continue the streak with a Elite 8 run in the Tourney. Don't be surprised if you see in NOLA as well.

3. Georgetown - "Run to You" - As in, run the Princeton offense. Hoyas have been solid all year long. Nice mix of young and old, as well as inside and outside. Jason Clark can go for 25 time any time he steps on the court, Hollis Thompson is an experienced swingman, while Henry Sims and Nate Lubick provide skill and experience in the paint. However, the Hoyas also depend a group of freshman who have gotten big minutes all year. Can a team with a lot of freshmen go far in the tournament? It's happened before, and G'town would like to rebound from last year's 1st round exit.
Bold Prediction: The Hoyas will be one of the last Big East teams standing in the NCAAs, along with Marquette and Cuse. Look for Georgetown to be playing for a shot to go to the Elite 8, come late March.

3a. Notre Dame - "Saving All My Love for You" - This references all the love Notre Dame is getting from around the country. "Mike Brey does it again....Coach of the Year in the Big East....they lost their best player before the season started....they're they only team to beat Syracuse..." To be honest, most of it is all warranted. Notre Dame has come out of nowhere, running their "burn" offense when they want to control the tempo of games, like they did against Syracuse. Since losing to UConn and Rutgers in mid-January, Notre Dame has won 8 in a row and are now ranked in the top 20.
Bold Prediction: The Irish might be pulling a Rick Pitino, and may be peaking too early. They got trampled out of the NCAA tournament last year during opening weekend. A great story this year, but don't expect the Irish to be around after St. Patty's Day weekend.

5. Louisville - "Heartbreak Hotel" - Unfortunately Fortunately Whitney didn't have a song titled "Italian Restaurant Bathroom," or else we'd have the perfect match for Pitino and the Cardinals. We'll go with the Heartbreak Hotel instead. Syracuse was able to beat the Cardinals at the Yum last Monday, after Louisville basically owned the Orange in their last 7 meetings. Coming off that loss, Cards needed OT to win at DePaul. Big game at Cincy on Thursday. L'ville needs to get some confidence back.
Bold Predication: Louisville is obviously in, and most likely a 3-5 seed. This sets them up perfectly for 13-4/12-5 upset, and "Pitino Doesn't Last Long" jokes lighting up Twitter.

6. West Virginia - "One Moment in Time" - The Mountaineers are taking their final breathes of Big East basketball. Whether or not they'll be spending late March in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT still remains to be seen. WVU has a Huggy-sized huge game against Notre Dame on Wednesday. A win in South Bend would go a loooong way for selection committee members. If WVU wins the games they are supposed to (ND not included) down the stretch, and can get a pair of Ws in NYC in their final Big East Tournament, they should be dancing.
Bold Predication: Their final moment in time in the Big East includes a trip to the NCAA Tournament, but a loss in the Round of 32. Kevin Jones can't do it all.

7. South Florida - "How Will I Know" - The Bulls are a tough team to predict. They are 10-4 in conference (good for a tie for 4th overall), with a trip to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday looming. After Cuse, they have Cincy at home, Louisville at the Yum, and host WVU in the season finale. If they go 2-2 over the final four regular season games, and win at least one in NYC, Bulls will be running into the NCAA Tournament.
Bold Predication: USF isn't quite ready to take the next step yet. They go 1-3 to finish the year, and get bounced early in the Big East tournament, punching a ticket to the NIT. With that said, can you keep an 11-7 team in the Big East out of the Big Dance? Redact prediction, Bulls are in if they win 3 more games before Selection Sunday.

8. Cincinnati - "So Emotional" - It's been quite the rollercoaster of emotions for Cincy this year. The Bearcats have a couple of black eyes on their resume that won't do them any favors on Selection Sunday (Presbyterian and Marshall). Throw in the black eyes they gave to Xavier players, it's been an up and down season for the 'Nati. The Bearcats sit basically in the same position as USF. I'd say they are in right now, but losing to the Bulls or Villanova in the final weeks of the season could be the knockout punch for Cincy.
Bold Predication: If the Bearcats can defend their home court and beat Louisville on Thursday night, they are in. If they lose, they still have a chance, but that's a resume building win and they need it at this point in the season.

9. Seton Hall - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" - Did you know that Seton Hall lost 6 games in a row during the month of January and early February. Even with that stretch of games, most "experts" have said the Pirates are in, despite being 7-8 in the league right now. The Hall hosts Georgetown and Rutgers before closing out the year at DePaul. To say the Pirates still have some work to do, would be putting it lightly.

Bold Predication: The Hall loses 2 of their final 3, and answer the question, Where Do Broken Hearts Go....the NIT.

10. UConn - "I Have Nothing" - If you looked at UConn's Tournament resume, changed the name at the top to Storrs College, there is no way they'd be a tournament team. But they are UConn, the defending National Champs, so they get the benefit of a perennial tournament team. Similar to Villanova last year, who had no business making the tournament (and lost in their first game), UConn could get some benefit of the doubt votes. Throw in the fact UConn won't be in the tournament next year (NCAA violations), could this year be Calhoun's last opportunity to coach in a NCAA tourney game?
Bold Predication: It's been a rough year for the defending champs. Suspensions due to NCAA violations for a player as well as Calhoun. They've basically quit in a number of games, where it really showed that they had nothing. Shabazz Napier kept hopes alive with his ONIONS on Monday night at Villanova. Don't think that will be enough though. No NCAA Tournament for the Huskies, and loyal reader Ramy has to console his little brother, Jeremy Lamb (that's if he didn't trade in this Jeremy for Jeremy Lin).

Final count: Big East definitely gets 7, possibly 8. Only get 9 if someone has a Gerry McNamara/Da'Sean Butler/Kemba-esque run in NYC. Give me 4 of those teams in the Sweet 16, 2 in the Elite 8 and 1 in the New Orleans.

Draftastic Voyage: NBA Draft 2011

In our first A.E. post (after engagement...the First Lady and I made it official over the weekend), Daily Onions is going to breakdown one of our favorite nights of the year, the NBA Draft. Whether we've watched it from home, or live from the MSG theater, or got updates via text alerts, the Draft has always been a night of excitement for NBA fans because there is always so much "upside potential" for trades, new stars coming into the league, GMs making awful picks, etc. This year, however, stands out a bit from other years because.....this year's crop of draft players is AWFUL. Who knows, maybe in 5 years we will look back and talk about the surprise of how good the draft of 2011 was, but more likely it will be about the guy being drafted at number 14 being just as good as the guy drafted at number 3.

Best Dressed Wes

Daily Onions isn't going to do a mock draft as our preview. Wanna know why? Because if you Google "NBA Mock Draft 2011", 4,350,000 results come up in .32 seconds. Instead, we'll take a look at some of the things we are expecting tonight, what players we are rooting for to go into good situations, who's slipping, who's got a cool name, and who is going to be this year's best dressed player, aka The Wes Johnson Award. And now, in no particular order, let's explore this year's Draftastic Voyage:

• Top Two: All signs are pointing to the Cavs (who have the first and fourth pick) going with Kyrie Irving to be the savior for the city of Cleveland. If that is the case, then Minnesota has the opportunity to grab potentially the best player in this draft at Number 2. BUT, Derrick Williams is a tweener in the sense of is he a 3, or is he a four. If they draft him, Minnesota should just change their name to the TweenerWolves, because their roster will consist of Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson, Lazar Haywood, Anthony Randolph, and Martell Webster - all guys with no true identity in their position. Throw in an undersized Kevin Love into the mix, and a log jam at the point guard position, and the TweenerWolves are a bad pick away from combustion. In our opinion, Wolves need to aggressively shop that pick and see if they can make their roster look more like an NBA team, and not a Picasso painting

  

• The man, the myth, the Jimmer: If you aren't rooting for Jimmer to be successful, please leave the blog. No hard feelings, but we don't want you here. We are trying to figure out what would be the best situation for Jimmer. Is it Utah because of his local ties from BYU, and the tradition of John Stockton (aka white point guard), or is it Phoenix because he would have the best mentor a rookie point guard could ask for in Steve Nash (unless Nash is traded), or is it Indiana (Basketball, Indiana, White Kid that can shoot, it all goes together perfectly), or is it Sacramento (he can take over the point and form the backcourt that will average the most FGA's in the history of the league with Tyreke Evans). We are rooting for Phoenix (with Nash of course), or Utah (Jimmer and Gordon Hayward would be instant best friends).

• Best in Show: Shout out to Jim Nantz...sorry I stole your line about Kemba Walker and the Huskies being the Top Dog of college basketball. Seems like Kemba's stock is slipping in the last few days though. We've seen mocks with him as high as 5 and as low as 17. Daily Onions has had a love/hate relationship with Kemba this year. We think he can succeed in the right situation. If he goes to a bad team, I don't think he can put them on his back and make them a contender in the NBA, like he did w/ UConn in the Big East and NCAA Tournament. We'd like to see him go somewhere that he can be a 6th man/backup point guard, and can basically become a Ben Gordon or Jamal Crawford type player. Recently, Kemba hung out at the AXE Lounge (click here for video) and answered a few questions about his favorite sneakers, pre-game music, etc. One of our favorite questions was what UConn player he most admired. He said Rudy Gay was his favorite (Daily Onions is cool with that), but then said the player he admires most is Ray Allen (Daily Onions loves that). Kemba shows us he is smart, not only by finishing his degree in three years, but also by showing respect to the best shooter the game has ever seen. We'll let him slide w/ his answer to who he was rooting for in the Finals.

• Foreign Exchange: There is a possibility that 5 foreign players go in the top 15 tonight, and 3 of them could be selected in the top 6. Is there the next Dirk Nowitzki somewhere in that crop, or is there the next Darko Milicic. That's the risk GMs will face if they roll the dice and pick one of these guys early. It seems like the recipe for success with a lot of the international players is drafting them, keeping them stashed away for a year or two, and then bringing them over after a few more years of seasoning in their overseas league. Our favorite international player this year is Bismack Biyombo. Not only is his name really cool, but he is 6-9, 243 lbs, and has the potential to be another Serge Ibaka in a few years.

• Baby I Like It: Just when you thought we couldn't incorporate an Enrique Iglesias song into an NBA Draft preview, we go there. Here are some other players that we like, and are rooting for to get drafted into good situations: Kawhi Leonard (athletic as heck, great defender, can put the ball in the bucket, and was a joy to watch as part of the SDSU squad last year); Kenneth Faried (he's the next David Lee/Taj Gibson....you'd take a guy like that on your team any day, he'll be a great rebounder/energy guy); Tobias Harris (we wish he would have stayed one more year in college, especially if he would have chosen Syracuse over Tennessee...so much potential here, hopefully he doesn't rot away on someone's bench); Jimmy Butler (No, we didn't include him just for the Butler jokes, but he's another tough player w/ a lot of heart and can do all the little things for your team, would be a great fit for a perennial contender, also glad that he isn't playing for Marquette anymore); JaJuan Johnson (most likely a second rounder, but had a breakout senior season at Purdue, he can do a lot on the court and actually stayed in school for 4 years); Chandler Parsons (good to know that if MGMT ever breaks up, he can still be successful playing basketball); Shelvin Mack (he's from Butler, we love Butler, and we think Shelvin would be a great addition for a good team like the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, etc).

• Iggy Outta Here: As a 76ers fan, we know that tonight could be the end of the line for Andre Igoudala in Philadelphia. We are completely fine with that. He is a better fit for another team, and could be great for a contender, as a #3 option and lockdown defender. He is just one of the many names out there being discussed in trades tonight, along w/ Monta Ellis, Steve Nash, Lamar Odom (and Khloe?), Tony Parker, Johnny Flynn, and so on and so on. The Sixers have the 16th pick (aka Who the Hell Knows What Value You Can Get Here), but we hope they are wheeling and dealing to unload Iggy, move up in the draft, or bring in some help in the middle. 

There you have it. Everything that you needed to know about what Daily Onions was thinking about going into tonight's draft. T-minus 7 hours until the fun begins.

ONIONS Exposed

As promised, today is the day we get to highlight the winner of the 1st Annual Show Us Your ONIONS competition. We are lucky enough to chat with one of Daily Onions earliest supporters, and he even helped name this lovely space. Here's a sit down, virtual interview with Show Us Your Onions winner, Brady Smith. 

Daily Onions: How many times did you fill out a bracket before showing everyone your Onions?
Brady Smith: It was hard, but I filled up two before I let my onions hang out. Umm, that's what she said??

DO: Why did you pick UConn to win it all?
BS: That's simple: they were the Big East champs, one of the hottest teams in the country with five straight wins, and had arguably the best player and "game closer" in the nation in Kemba Walker. Plus, picking Duke to advance out of that region made me wanna puke.

DO: Who is the dirtier coach, John Calipari or Jim Calhoun?
BS: Ahh, yes I’ll take, “Dude Whose Agent/Business Associate/Friend/Whatever is Nicknamed World Wide Wes” for $500, Alex. (Editor's Note: Yes, that is correct. Brady keeps control of the board.)

DO: If you were a high school senior and were being recruited to play basketball, what coach would you want to play for?

BS: Well, I actually WAS a highly recruited high school senior … Izzo, Bobby Knight, Coach K would not stop calling my house. It got really annoying, especially since I didn’t even play on an organized hoops team. I guess that’s what being a street ball legend with a killer sky hook will do for you. In all seriousness, I think most people would say Butler’s young, affable coach Brad Stevens, but I’m afraid if I go with Stevens that Mr. Daily Onions would morph into a teenage girl, become insanely jealous and de-friend me on Facebook (Editor's Note: True story, I would.). So because I bleed Gold and Blue, and because I highly value the ability to give a good face rub in times of adversity … I gotta go with my boy Bobby Huggins.

DO: Who is a better rebounder, Charles Barkley or you?

BS: Some basketball historians would argue that I was the first original Round Mound of Rebound. Others would say that’s freaking ridiculous, considering I was 4 when “Chuck Broccoli” was a rookie for the Sixers. So, I’d say it’s a toss-up.

DO: Is the 1st Annual Show Us Your Onions contest the coolest thing you've ever won in your life? If no, what was?

BS: I think it’s a cross between this, All-South Jersey Choir in fifth grade (Editor's note: Yes, he really was an All-South Jersey Choir member...flexing his golden pipes back in the day), and my Unsung Hero award in baseball for hitting .240 as a designated hitter my senior year of high school.

DO: How much money would you pay to spend a weekend with Bill Raftery?

BS: Forget spending a weekend with him – I’d pay $1,000 to anyone who can decipher what the hell he’s saying half the time.

DO: What is your favorite saying of Bill Raftery's?

BS: C’mon dude. There’s no better call in sports then a true Raftery ONIONS call after a big shot – a la Morehead State in the tourney.

DO: If you had to name your first born son after a player or coach from this year's tournament, what name would you choose?

BS: Shaka Smith has a great ring to it. But I guess Kemba Smith would be more appropriate, since I wouldn’t be writing this if it wasn’t for him. I think my son will look more like a Kemba then a Shaka, come to think of it. (Editor's Note: Interesting that Brady passed up on names like Jimmer, Momo, Shabazz).

DO: Last question: Crystal Ball - who wins the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship? 

BS: Whew – talk about a long way off. I think I’ll just stick with my formula of picking the Big East champ, so the question becomes – “who will win the 2012 Big East Championship?” Daily Onions will surely be psyched about this pick, but with the veteran Latin American core of Scoop Jar-diene, Brandon Tri-chey, Fabio Melo Yellow, and Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Boe-heimanos, I’m picking El Cuso to take the Big East and win the whole damn thing in New Orleans (Editor's Note: Don't even ask why Brady has turned Syracuse into the Latin All-Stars). You want more reasons to like the Orange? How about the Final Four is in New Orleans in 2012 – site of the Cuse’s last national championship win in 2003? What’s that - you want more? How about UConn cut down the nets one year later in 2004 … in the state of Texas like this year? Write it down. Cuse’s back in the house, OH MY GOD … Cuse’s back in the house OHHH NOOOO.

(Editor's Note: We absolutely LOVE the pick. In fact, Daily Onions was sitting court-side when the 'Cuse cut down the nets in 2003 in the SUperdome. Anyone up for a trip to NOLA next April??)

There you have it. We have officially completed year 1 of Show Us Your Onions (actually, the t-shirt is still in production). Thanks to over the 30 people that participated in our contest this year, and we REALLY appreciate everyone reading throughout the season. Make sure you stay with us for what should be an exciting NBA playoff season.

Diced Onions: Week in Review

You've probably been wondering....wha happened? Where did the Onions go? Well, we needed a little break, and had to catch up on some things outside of the Onions world. No fear though, we are here to recap many things we've been thinking about over the week.

-You officially know the NCAA Tournament is over when...

• You delete the March Madness On Demand App from your iPad or iPhone (what a great addition that thing was to the tournament though...whew).
• You stop having dreams about when you met Brad Stevens (wait, all of you didn't have this dream...nevermind).
• You start seeing waaaay too many underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft. Since when did it become "cool" to be a mid to late first round pick? Remember when you only came out of college early if you were going to be a Top 10 pick? Yeah, me too. That's one of the reasons we are seeing "down" years in basketball, as well as younger players who are either struggling or riding the pine (or should we say cushioned seats) in the NBA.
• You yell ONIONS! when someone at work does something great under pressure, just to fill the void of Raftery in your life. You also throw in the Gus Johnson patented "HAHA" at the end of different statements.
• You realize you have about 350 days until you "gamble" on a sporting event again.
• You are waiting for Daily Onions to post an entry about this year's Show Us Your Onions Winner (coming early next week).

-With the end of the college basketball season, comes the beginning of the pre-draft NBA workouts and the Portsmouth Invitational, a showcase for college seniors. I'm Sorry Rick Jackson is showcasing his double-double-bility this week for the K & D Rounds Landscaping team. They already beat Sales System Ltd in Round 1. If they keep winning they might play Cherry, Bekaert and Holland in the finals. We LOVE the fact that these team names are completely local business sponsors. Brings us back to the days when we played street hockey for Adams Service Center, and were competing against the likes of Little John's Towing, Parker and Dudas, R and S Collectibles, to name a few. My brother and I always wanted to sponsor a youth sports team, and then become the Maloofs or Mark Cuban of youth sports by having the nicest uniforms, buying the kids gatorades and snacks after the game. Maybe Daily Onions will look to sponsor a little hoops squad next season.

-We'll start to shift our attention to the NBA now, with the playoffs only 9 days away. Congrats to South Jersey native, Frank Vogel, for clinching a playoff berth for the Indiana Pacers, after taking over midway through the season. Elsewhere, if Derrick Rose didn't put the stamp on this year's MVP with his performance against the Celtics last night, we aren't quite sure what else he could do. He took Rajon Rondo's pants off (credited to Ramy) a few times in the Bulls blowout victory over Boston. The Celts didn't look like the dominant team that everyone is scared to face in the playoffs. We know they usually can turn it on when it counts, but we'll see if the team will recover from the Kendrick Perkins trade that obviously has shaken up the team on and off the court.

Dear Diary: 2011 Championship Game - Butler vs. UConn

You are loooking liiiiive at the Daily Onions home office. Actually, you aren't really looking live at it, but we are reporting live from the Daily Onions home office. We are going all out for the final game of the college basketball season (not including Skylar Diggins' coming out party tomorrow night), with a running diary of the National Championship between Butler and UConn.

Let's jump right in with the starting lineups. We kind of miss the alternating starting lineups they used to do in the Championship game, as well as seeing the players autographs on the screen when they are announced. Ahh the good ole days. All the Butler players pet Blue II the Bulldog - except Shawn Vanzant (maybe he is allergic?). Jim Calhoun and Brad Stevens with the pregame handshake, looks more like a grandfather excited to see his grandson.

Kudos to CBS for including Steve Kerr for the Final 4. He's great on NBA games, and has been awesome throughout the tournament. Taking some airtime away from Clark Kellogg is always a plus too.

Nantz's first call - "It's time to settle the Madness." Sounds good, Jim.

18:52 - Chase "Steven" Stigall hits his first shot of the tournament (not really, but close) to give Butler a 3-2 lead. He could provide a nice little spark for the Dawgs.

17:55 - Stigall misses his next three. So much for that.

17:06 - Walker, Mack and Lamb are a combined 0-5.

16:35 - Second fundamental box out by Butler leads to second over the back call on UConn.

15:58 - Andrew Smith sideout on a Kemba Walker layup. First media timeout. Big game nerves in full effect. Walker 0-4, Lamb 0-2, Mack 0-3, Howard 0-2. Oh and by the way, Daily Onions prediction is 60-56 Butler. Low scoring affair as we think both of these teams, especially UConn, are gassed.

15:56 - Steve Kerr says he is expecting a low scoring game....beat you to it, Stevie.

15:30 - Kerr talks about Butler's defensive rotations. We should have set an over/under on how many basketball fundamentals are discussed when talking about Butler tonight. I'd take the over.

15:17 - Howard is the first "star" from either team to score with a 3-pointer, his first of the Final 4.

13:19 - Howard, probably the slowest guy on the court, beats everyone down the court and Ronald Nored finds him with a nice hit ahead. Howard is fouled, drains two - 8-8.

13:06 - "WALKER on the board now" - Nantz (pull up jumper from Kemba)

12:34 - Walker driving layup in transition.......and the foul. Makes the FT, UConn goes up 13-8.

12:20 - Kemba gets a break...Calhoun sees the under 12 timeout approaching, to give Kemba some extra rest.

11:58 - First turnover of the game by Butler and we head to another media timeout. UConn leads 13-9. Walker has 5, Oriakhi 4 for UConn, while Howard has 5 for Butler. Mack, Vanzant and Lamb all still scoreless.

11:45 Tyler "White" Olander takes his third shot of the game (a 17 ft jumper), and then Jim Calhoun promptly takes him out. Not surprised.

11:10 "That's Andrew Smith, with the reach around." -Nantz

10:26 Loyal reader Ramy texts me that UConn is too big. Oriaki then picks up his 2nd foul, and the next play Andrew Smith scores on a baby hook in the post. So much for that.

9:35 Mack misses a layup in traffic. Shellllllllvin!!! He's 0-4 and Butler is down 13-11.

9:02 POTENTIAL TURNING POINT: 7th team foul on UConn - shooting from here on out. Mack makes one of two...he's on the board!

8:16 Butler's size causing problems. On an offensive rebound, Andrew Smith draws Lamb's 2nd foul. Smith makes one of two. Tied at 13! Sloppy basketball at its best!!!

7:40 Kerr says both teams struggling to find any rhythm. Seriously, Steve, stop stealing my lines.

7:20 STIGALL again!!! Butler up 16-15. (Nantz tells us Stigall is from SteveAlford, Indiana).

6:44 Media Timeout. Butler leads 16-15. Butler shooting 22% from the field, UConn shooting 29%. I'll take "The Under" for $300, Alex.

6:03 Back to back baskets by UConn and Huskies go up 19-16.

4:46 UConn with a couple of offensive rebounds to keep a possession alive, now lead 23-16 on the glass. Ramy was right - too big.

4:14 Mack with his first field goal, a three, to tie the game at 19.

3:49 Final media timeout of the half comes on a dumb foul by Vanzant. Stevens tells him that he is smarter than that. He's right. All square at 19.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there....with a Hot Tub!

2:46 Howard takes a charge on Kemba. That's number 2 on Walker. Game still tied at 19. Butler has only made 5 field goals this half (5-24).

44.8 Howard takes another charge. And Roscoe Smith picks up his second foul. Kerr tells us Butler considers taking charges their version of blocked shots. White boy blocked shots. I like it. I definitely led the team in White Boy Blocks back in high school.

As time expires, Shelvin Mack drains a three from deeep. Butler takes a 22-19 lead to the half. "Mack is Back" - Nantz (Jim is already in Augusta).

So at the half, Mack and Walker both have 7 points. If you drew Chase Stigall in the second leading scorer at the half pool, you won! He's got 6. Biggest surprise, Lamb is 0-1 with no points and 2 fouls.

All around ugly game. Both teams playing hard, but its ugly. Neither team shooting higher than 24% from the field. Butler has made six baskets, only one of them as two-point bucket. UConn is up 14-0 in points in the paint, and are up 9 in the rebounding column and are trailing by 3 at the half. Makes sense.

Show Us Your Onions finalist Brady gets in on some twitter action with this gem: #bradstevenslookslike ... Matt Howard's younger brother that he gives noogies to.... 
And we are back....

19:45 STIGALL again!!! He's got 9 points. Lamb who? Kemba Who? We got Chase Stigall!! Butler up 25-19.

19:21 Oh, there's Lamb. Draws a foul and makes 2 FTs to FINALLY get on the board.

18:32 Kemba...for 2. 25-23 Butler.

17:46 Welcome to the ballgame Jeremy Lamb, who drains a 3 - UConn up 26-25. Loyal reader, Ramy tweets that he wishes Jeremy Lamb was his younger brother. Not really sure what that means, but we do too!

Loyal reader JaLil texts me a reference about The Wire and Alex Oriakhi, that I didn't get because I haven't watched it yet. I'll get to it...I promise.

15:54 Media timeout 27-25, UConn leads.

15:02 Nored misses a 3 for Butler. That means that the only 3-pointer that Nored has ever made at Butler was a banked in 3 against Syracuse, in the final minutes of last year's Sweet 16 game. #stillhurts #notbitter

13:37 Lamb with a steal and a dunk. He's got 7 in the 2nd half and UConn is now up 31-26. Timeout Brad Stevens. Kerr points out that it might only be a five point lead, but it feels like a lot more. He's right (obviously). Butler is 7-41 from the field, and Mack is 2-12. I've seen fourth grade CYO games with better shooting.

Reader Kenny texts with this "Who told Shelvin to play like Jimmer tonight?" You could add William Buford, Erving Walker, and Nolan Smith to that list.

13:15 Right on cue, Howard misses a shot in the lane.

12:56 Lamb misses a jumper, gets his own rebound, and then hits a jumper. 33-26, Lamb has 9, and a new older brother, Ramy.

Reader JaLil texts with a Clark Kellogg "bang bus" joke. Always good for a laugh.

12:32 Ladies and Gentleman, we'd like to welcome Shawn Vanzant to the ballgame, as he hits a jumper. Cuts the UConn lead to 5.

11:50 Media timeout. "The Dog Fight....continues in Houston." - Nantz (way to get creative, Jim. If you are going to mail it in, at least hand the mic over to Gus).

11:07 Its becoming the Jeremy Lamb show as he catches an alley oop and lays it in. 37-28 UConn. Lamb now has 11 points in 9 minutes.

10:12 Kemba with an acrobatic layup to give UConn a 39-28, leading to a Butler timeout. This is Butler's largest deficit of the Tournament. As we go to break, "UConn on a roll, a finger roll..." -Nantz (Jim, make it stop)

9:50 Howard misses another layup...doing his best 2010 Rick Jackson impression in the paint (credited to JaLil)

I don't remember the last time Butler made a shot. They are 2-21 in the 2nd half. They've missed 19 of their last 20 shots. They are 8-49 in the game. Gross.

7:25 Oriakhi, the UConn center hits a 15 foot jumper...almost rubbing it in. UConn goes up 41-28.

6:11 Andrew Smith ends the drought of six and a half minutes for Butler. But UConn answers with a dunk, lead 43-30 going to the under 8 timeout. "...And they have Walker...Texas Ranger." - Nantz (really?)

5:49 Ramy texts me the "Curtains" call, meaning the game is over and UConn wins.

4:58 Nappier with a driving layup gives UConn a 46-32 lead.

4:35 Vanzant hits a 3, 46-35. If Butler is going to make a run, they need to go now.

3:48 And....Howard throws up a wild running shot in the lane. So much for that comeback.

3:17 The final media timeout. UConn leads 46-35. "UConn has 10 blocks, which ties a NCAA tournament record." -Nantz (hold on, Jim...That wasn't cheesy. Do it over!)

Donyell Marshall is shown in the crowd. We met Donyell at Little Star Basketball Camp at Kutztown University back in 1989 (Daily Onions fun fact of the day).

2:58 Oriakhi grabs another rebound. He's got 11 and 11. Remember when Daily Onions had Oriakhi on our favorite underclassmen list back in January. Yep, we do too!

1:50 We see a graphic that shows the lowest FG% in a championship game was 21% back in 1941. Butler is shooting 19%.

1:40 Mack hits a 3. Lead down to 8. Could have used that one about 5 minutes ago, Shelvin.

:30 Walker at the line, hits 2 free throws. UConn up 53-41.

Clock is winding down....

"The Huskies are the Top Dog in 2011!" -Nantz (Well, you didn't disappoint with that one Jim.)

Oh wait....what's this, another one? "But one thing was very clear tonight in Houston, Connecticut wins best in show." - Nantz (Just go, Jim. Go to Augusta and don't ever come back.)

So, that's that. UConn wins 53-41. After trailing 22-19 at the half, Jeremy Lamb gave the Huskies a huge lift to start the second session. It helped that Butler shot an NCAA Championship worst, 18.8% from the field.UConn was the better team on Monday night,  the best team in the last three weeks, and they are the National Champions. Oh, and they were 9th in the Big East this year, so obviously the Big East isn't a strong conference. It's UConn's 3rd Championship since 1999. As we mentioned on Friday, we think Calhoun will go out on top, sidestepping the pending suspension next year and retiring to Cape Cod, or Southern New Jersey if he is like Bo Ryan.

For Butler, one bad game won't take away from the amazing run that they've had the past two years. They are still one of our favorites and we'll take every opportunity to see them play live next year in Chicago. Anything to get us closer to Brad Stevens.

Just because the college basketball season is over, doesn't mean Daily Onions is done. We still need to crown our Show Us Your Onions Champion (Brady Smith), and we'll switch gears to NBA playoffs, with some NBA Draft, coaching carousel, etc mixed in as well over the next few months. Keep coming back!

This is for all the ONIONS!

And then there were two. They both have diplomas from West Virginia University (yes, they actually give diplomas from WVU - I was just as surprised as you were), and they both have UConn in the National Championship game. Brady Smith has UConn winning, so if the Huskies do indeed win in what could be Jim Calhoun's final game as head coach, the Onions go to him. If Butler is able to win one more game in the tournament than they did last year, it will come down to a tiebreaker with total points, giving Lindsay Spieler a chance, and something to brag to her friends about.

It's Spieler vs. Smith for all the Onions

Just as there is plenty of media hype around the actual championship game tonight, also lots of festivities surrounding the finals in Show Us Your Onions. Yesterday there was media day, when Spieler and Smith posed for the camera in order to create some promotional photos for Monday night's matchup. No word on whether we'll be putting together a One Shining Moment video for the winner.

Luckily we won't be watching these two play tonight.

As far as our thoughts on the actual game being played tonight, our heart is in one place. Even though we tend to support the Big East, we are fine with touting to the haters that of all of the teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, 50% of them are from our conference. Take that Big 10, ACC and SEC! And even though we are developing a bit of a childhood crush on UConn's freshman Jeremy Lamb, who we partly hope stays in school, so he can add some weight to his frame, but also hope leaves so he doesn't terrorize the 'Cuse next season; we are still rooting for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. What Brad Stevens and the Bulldogs have been able to do over the last twelve months is one of the most impressive pure sports stories in the last 10 years (maybe more), as stated by Smith via phone interview yesterday (and we are in total agreement).

If you aren't rooting for Butler to win tonight, then you probably rooted for the team from South Bend in Hoosiers, you rooted for Roy Hobbs to strike out in his last at bat, you rooted for Rudy to not get a jersey, you rooted for the Soviet hockey team in the 1980 Olympics, and you probably couldn't see Shoeless Joe and Company playing baseball in a cornfield in Iowa. Get it? Many are saying that UConn is the more talented team and the Huskies should beat Butler. But many of those "experts" said the same about Old Dominion, Pitt, Wisconsin, Florida and VCU when they matched up against the Bulldogs. Does UConn have a more individually talented players...yes. No disrespect to what the Huskies have done over the last month of the season, but there is no better TEAM in college basketball than the Butler Bulldogs. Let's hope that by the end of the night, Stevens and Co. have the hardware to prove it.

Who Wore it Better: Final Four Edition

Daily Onions takes a shot at the always fun US Weekly game, "Who Wore It Better?" Obviously all of our questions will be Final Four related:

• Who Wore it Better: Young Coach: Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart?
• Who Wore it Better: Dirty Coach: John Calipari or Jim Calhoun?
• Who Wore it Better: Tournament Game-winning shots: Brandon Knight or Matt Howard?
• Who Wore It Better: Freshman Making a Difference: Jeremy Lamb or Kentucky's Young'ns?
• Who Wore It Better: Dogs: Bulldogs or Huskies?
• Who Wore It Better: Lamb: Deron (UK) or Jeremy (UConn)
• Who Wore It Better: Potential Uncreative Headline: Butler Did It Again or Yes UConn or Top Cats/Blue Heaven or Insert Shaka/Cinderella/VC-Whew headline?

Daily Onions Answers/Predictions: Stevens, Calipari, Knight, Jeremy, Bulldogs, Jeremy, Nobody Wins on this one. We'll check back this weekend with a breakdown of the results.

Diced Onions: Final Four and then some

I was going to write a much more in-depth post about the Final Four, the teams, the coaches, the upsets, the Madness, etc. Instead the First Lady and I watched Frontline on PBS, and their story about how much money is made during March Madness, and how the athletes saw zero of that. This turned into an hour conversation in the Daily Onions office about whether or not student-athletes should get paid, how they would get paid, why coaches are overpaid, why does the NCAA have such a big yearly budget, jersey sales, video game sales and so on and so on. If you ever thought about banging your head against the wall for an hour, don't do it. Just have a conversation with your significant other about all the things wrong with the NCAA.

The craziest thing is, I don't totally agree with fact that student-athletes don't get compensated for all the money that is being brought in thanks to college athletics. It's tough to come up with an argument for why they aren't, except the fact that the NCAA is about student-athletes, and they don't play students, but instead they are giving students the opportunity to get a free education (which is what the NCAA President said over and over and over...)  From the bottom of my heart, I really wish that was true, but it isn't. This is a topic that Daily Onions could talk about for 3 months straight, and I don't even know if we'd come up with a solution or a perfect argument at that point. The First Lady may have summed things up the best by saying this: "You don't have to have a vast knowledge of college sports, to know right from wrong." She is probably right. There is exploitation in college sports (mostly football and basketball), and we all know that. Will the NCAA ever change its rules, probably not....allowing many "fun" conversations between couples down the road.

Enough about that, let's get into some Final Four random thoughts:

-During the season, I thought I wanted to name my first born Jimmer, but now I am thinking it might be Butler. How can you not LOVE the Butler Bulldogs basketball program? We are currently reading the book Underdawgs, which is the story of last year's team's run to the National Championship game. Lots of good tidbits on coach Brad Stevens (Daily Onions crush), the recruitment of Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward and Ronald Nored, and more info that we'll probably include in a post in the near future entitled, "Everything I ever needed to know in life, I learned from the Butler Basketball Program." Stay tuned.

-If Shaka Smart was in a lineup next to five other current college point guards, would the untrained eye be able to point out which person was the college coach? Probably not. Throw in how he looked and how he worked the crowd at the pep rally on Sunday night when the teamed returned to campus, Smart could have easily been plugged into the role of emcee at a block party coming to a university near you. Looks aside, we obviously commend the job Shaka has done in the past two weeks. As far as where he'll be next year, we doubt it includes the letters VCU. Our guess is N.C. State. Will he be able to gain some ground on Duke and UNC? Probably not right away, but after how far he's brought VCU in the last two weeks, you never know.

-In case you didn't know, it's "Random Early '90s College Basketball Players Get Head Coaching Jobs" week. First, Cuonzo Martin goes to Tennessee (yes, we know he was a head coach at Mizzou State). We remember Cuonzo as the sidekick to the Big Dog at Purdue back in the early 90s. Then today, THE Monmouth University of New Jersey go and hire Vanderbilt assistant and former UNC Tarheel, King Rice. For those of you that don't remember Rice, we don't blame you. Fortunately, Daily Onions was blessed with a ridiculous and random (and sometimes stupid) memory, so we remember Rice playing along side of Rick Fox and Co. back in the day. No word on whether or not NC State is looking to hire Chris Corchiani for the head job (they aren't, because Chris now works in real estate). If things don't work out with Matt Painer for Missouri, they can always give Anthony Peeler a call (he's actually an assistant at D-2 Virginia Union). Ok, that's enough for now, but plenty of seats still open on the coaching carousel, so more jokes to come.

A few questions to ponder looking ahead to this weekend:
-If UConn wins two games this weekend, capping off an unbelievable month of basketball (11 wins in a row between the Big East and NCAA Tournament), does Jim Calhoun walk away? Close to turning 69 years old, Calhoun's got some suspension time looming next year due to some NCAA violations, as well as some scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions over the next three years. Kemba will be gone after this season, and Jeremy Lamb might not be too far behind, draining the Huskies of their top talents. Why not go out on top now?

-When Daily Onions celebrates its 5th birthday in December of 2015, will Kentucky still have its 2011 NCAA Final Four banner still hanging in Rupp Arena? I think its a legit question considering Coach Cal's track record (even though he didn't know anything). Also, is UK's Josh Harrellson the biggest goon in college basketball since......? I'm not even sure who the last goon in the college game was, but we bet Harrellson will give him a run for his money. As a Daily Onions loyal reader pointed out over the weekend after Harrellson chucked the ball at Jared Sullinger's chest, "O'Doyle Rules!"

-We knew we'd have some bad headlines this week with Butler returning to the Final Four. Creative reporters and editors brushed off "The Butler Did It" and figured out ways to incorporate that into the leads of stories throughout the weekend. Now we get to go to Houston for the Final 4. Spare us the, "Houston, we have a problem" headlines. We know there aren't any 1 or 2 seeds left in the tournament. That's not a problem, and even if it was a problem, that's not a creative headline. Give us something better. And can we stop the potential VCU-UConn matchup leading to Shaka-Conn headlines now? Ok good. Oh, and if Connecticut does win, please keep the "Yes, UConn" headlines to yourself. Thanks.

More Final Four thoughts coming later this week.

16 Sweet Things To Look Forward To: Part 2

Before we get into the next eight things on our list....let's have a moment of silence for Jimmer's college career (moment). We thank you Jimmer, it was a blast. Now we are excited about the MoMo Jones era (errr, weekend of the season). Florida, UConn, Butler (and Brad Stevens) and Arizona are still standing. We still have 3 of our 4 Final 4 teams still alive (thanks, Duke), so we're still in the running for predicting the National Champion. Now let's look ahead to tonight's action, and reasons 9-16 we like the Sweet 16.

9. Shaka...Gone? Will tonight's game be the final game of the season for the Rams, and coach Shaka Smart? Shaka was already on the "hot, young, up and coming coach" list this season, and victories over Georgetown and Purdue may have hoisted him to the top. With openings at Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, and Monmouth (hi Ram!), there is a good chance Shaka will be gone from VCU once they are eliminated.

10. College Basketball Capital of the World: Apparently it is Richmond, Virginia. Two schools that are just six miles away from each other, both double-digit seeds, both pulled a few upsets and both are in the Sweet 16. Oh and both will probably be looking for a new head coach after the season, as Richmond's Chris Mooney is also on the aforementioned coaches list at which bigger schools will start taking a look.


11. Two down, Two to go: As you all know, we picked THE Ohio State University to go to the Final Four back in December. Well, they've won their first two tournament games, and need to win two more for our prediction to come true. They got a young Kentucky team tonight in....NEW JERRRSEEEY. A classic match up for Daily Onions, since it includes one of our favorites this season (OSU), as well as one of our favorites to dislike (UK).

12. Kentucky and Calipari: As you all know, we aren't the biggest fan of Coach Calipari. We never have trusted his young squad, as they have struggled on the road during the season, and went home early last season thanks to a more disciplined, more mature West Virginia team. We also don't trust Coach Cal. Even a six page article in Sports Illustrated basically defending Calipari couldn't really change our opinion. Bottom line, he's taken two different schools to the Final Four, and both of those schools have had those trips revoked. Now Cal claims he knew nothing about the violations (maybe true), but where there is smoke there is fire. If Kentucky ends up winning two more games, will it even matter? Half his team will be gone in a few months, and who knows what potential violations are down the road.

13: Big East Pride: Not only are the Marquette Golden Eagles one of two Big East teams left standings, but they also sport the pair of shorts we are most likely to purchase on Eastbay. Gold or light blue, take your pick, you can't lose. Shorts aside, is anyone else a tad scared of Marquette right now? They are playing inspired ball for Coach Buzz, aka Coach Streetwise....."maybe on the way out" (Chicago joke). They play hard, they are athletic, they are physical, and they will most likely give UNC everything they can handle.


14. Rock Chalk: Apparently Kansas didn't get the memo that the Southwest Region is Cinderella's castle. The team's left in that region are seeded 10, 11, and 12. Oh yeah, and the Jayhawks are 1. That means one of two things. Kansas either has a very good shot at making the Final 4, or they are in trouble and are the next top seed to take a tumble.


15. Gus vs. Raftery: This is a match up where no one wins. Its bad enough this is the final weekend of the season that we'll get to hear these two vocal geniuses, but we don't even get them on separate nights. At least on Saturday, the games are staggered so we'll be able to enjoy the final 40 minutes uninterrupted, of both Gus and Raftery. That makes us want to put our lingerie on the deck (what?).

16. ONIONS! After Friday's games we'll have the first set of standings for the Show Us Your Onions competition. We lost Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pitt last weekend, and waved goodbye to Duke and San Diego State last night. Yep, we projected Duke in the Final 4. We were wrong. Tomorrow we'll be able to see who's been right, and who's been wrong, and who has the nicest Onions thus far.

16 Sweet Things To Look Forward To: Part 1

Just 16 teams left standing today, but a few days from now there will only be four. Here is what we are excited about seeing over the next two days, 16 things to be exact. To make sure you don't get Daily Onions-coma, we'll give you eight today and eight tomorrow. In no particular order, eight things to look forward to in tonight's four games.

1. Jimmer: We might have said in no particular order, but Jimmer is always at the top of our lists. In Round 1 he had 32, in Round 2 he had 34, do I hear a 36 for Thursday night against Florida? Bottom line, Jimmer has been a joy to watch this tournament, just as he has been all season long. Hopefully the SI cover jinx won't affect him this week, but either way, this is a pretty sick cover picture. Will Florida be able to contain him? That is the question. In case you don't remember, these two teams met last year in Round 1 of the Tournament...and no, the Gators could not contain Jimmer, as he dropped 37 in the Cougs victory. Expect a pro-Gators crowd down in New Orleans, thanks to its proximity to the Sunshine State. Plus, I'm not sure if BYU students are allowed in the city limits of NOLA.

2. Brad Stevens: If Jimmer is our favorite player, then Brad Stevens is by far our favorite coach. Is it a coincidence that Daily Onions was born the day after we spent a night watching Stevens in person against Loyola back in early December? Probably not. We complimented Stevens in our first post for his sideline demeanor and the way he interacted with his players. That rang true once again on Saturday night at the end of the Butler-Pitt game. With such a bizarre ending, Stevens was calm, cool and collected (we'll call him the anti-Mike Rice), which trickles down to his players. You can tell his guys love playing for him, and there are plenty of top high school recruits out there that will as well. The real question becomes, when does he leave Butler? We don't think he leaves for any of the openings now (Tennessee, Oklahoma, NC State, Mizzou), but instead waits for his dream job  -whatever that might be - We are thinking textbook, traditional college basketball programs like a Duke or an Indiana, etc. With those two schools well off with their current coaches, Coach K and Tom Crean (another Daily Onions favorite), maybe Stevens will indeed stay at Butler for years to come, and bring the Bulldogs to a perennial top 10 team, all while staying cool, calm and collected.

3. Fab 5 Revisited: Two weeks ago we had the Fab 5 documentary air on ESPN, last week we had Duke squeak by Michigan, and if all goes well Thursday night, we could have Steve Fisher and Coach K meet in the Elite 8 with a trip to Final 4 on the line. Talk about things coming full-circle. The NCAA Selection Committee may have screwed up a lot of seeding in this year's tournament, but they have helped Jalen Rose and Co. in keeping the Duke-Michigan/Fab 5 era story lines going throughout the tournament.

4. Kyrie: There was no question that Duke was the best basketball team in the country this season when Kyrie Irving was healthy. A freak toe injury caused him to miss the majority of the season, and he saw his first action since mid-December in Duke's opening round games. His only made FG on Sunday proved to be the game winner against Michigan. Now he's had another few days of practice and should have his "sea-legs" back for Thursday's game. We don't think Kyrie will be back to 100% quite yet, but he should be better than he was last weekend, which makes Duke that much tougher.

5. In the Zona: If you haven't seen Derrick Williams play yet this season, (a) what have you been doing all year? and (b) tune into tonight. The 6-8, 241 lb sophomore is one heck of an athlete. His 3-point play won the game for the Wildcats on Sunday, while his blocked shot against Memphis saved the day in Round 1. What is he going to do for an encore....walk on water?

6. Zebras: How do you like your officials, one's with with a quick five count and a quick whistle, or ones that don't know the correct back court violation rules? Regardless, unfortunately refs were taking quite a lot of heat after the first weekend of the tournament. Throw-in the debacle at the Big East tournament and it hasn't quite been the officials' month. It should be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences in this round's games - officials calling things a little tighter/looser, possibly a few more end of games conferences/reviews with the other officials on the court to make sure they got it "right". In any case, let's hope head of officials, John Adams isn't prominently featured in the studio shows like he was last weekend.

7: Bo Knows: We know that Bo Ryan knows where the best place to vacation/retire is, the beaches of....NEW JERRRRRSEY. He also knows a thing or two about Midwest basketball. Before coming to Madison, Ryan was the coach of Milwaukee, and before that he was the coach of UW-Platteville. We'll see just how much Bo knows about Midwest basketball when he has to deal with the Butler Bulldogs. This game probably won't be the track meet that UNC vs. Washington was, instead it will be closer to the Wisconsin-Penn State Big Ten tournament game that had a combined 70 points. Wisconsin may be favored by 5 points, but Butler has figured out a way to win games in March, both this year and last. The Duke-Arizona game might be the more exciting later game, but make sure your you have you eye on Butler-Wisconsin down the stretch.

8: Huskies Run: Saw this interesting stat that means absolutely nothing on the Twitter Machine about UConn. The Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA games held in their opponent's state. For the geography majors (from UConn), San Diego is in California, as is Anaheim, where Thursday night's game will be held. That stat aside, can UConn's magical March run continue? The Fighting Kemba's won five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament Championship, they dismantled Bucknell, and then sent Cincinnati home. Thursday night they'll be in unchartered waters, taking on San Diego State in their backyard. Let's see how the cross country flight and "road game" works out for the dogs this time around.

Happy watching and we'll see you tomorrow with eight more sweet things for Friday night's game.

Day 4 of the Madness: Boom Goes the Dynamite

And on the fourth day, he ended the Syracuse basketball season. We'll save our thoughts on the Syracuse season for a post at a later date, but we'll include some brief musings in our recap of the final day of opening weekend.

Domination Station: After starting the game trailing 11-2, THE Ohio State University got there stuff together and showed why they are the overall #1 seed in the tournament. The rest of the first half, they outscored George Mason 50-15. Put the money in the bag. OSU ends up winning 98-56, and will be headed to Newark, (Governor Patterson SNL voice) NEW JERRRSEY to take on Kentucky in the Sweet 16. Another #1 seed in action, Kansas, also cruised to a victory against Illinois. The Fighting Illini hung around, but never really threatened the Jayhawks, who will now face Richmond in the next round. While we are on the topic of domination, we need to throw VCU aka Southern Prep (South Jersey HS bball reference - thanks J5!) in there. For the third straight game, they've gone up against a team from a power conference (USC, Gtown and Purdue) and completely taken it to them winning by an average of 13 points. Purdue was a sexy pick for the Final Four thanks to the the freakish talents of JaJuan Johnson, who went for 25 and 14 on Sunday. That was not enough, as the Boiler Makers couldn't stop the Rams, who put up 94 points. Yes, this is the same VCU team that most "experts" said had no right even being in the tournament.
  
You Down with ACC? Both Duke and North Carolina were part of nail-biters Sunday afternoon in Charlotte. In a track meet, UNC held off Washington 86-83. Super Frosh Harrison Barnes has really come into his own after struggling at the beginning of the season for the Tar Heels. He dropped 22, including a 3 with four minutes to play, to give UNC the lead for good. In the second game of the afternoon, Duke and Michigan renewed the Fab 5-Laettner/Hurley/Hill rivalry. Duke went up by as many as 16 in the second half, only to see Michigan storm back and cut the lead to 1 point with 1:30 left, and then again with ten seconds left. 1 of 2 free throws from Nolan Smith and a missed Darius Miller runner as time expired sealed Coach K's 900th victory, and another trip to the Sweet 16 for the Dukies.

Five Seconds: Cue the controversy for the Texas-Arizona game. A questionable five second violation on a late game in-bounds play led to the ball going back to Arizona, trailing by two with 12 seconds left. Zona's Derrick Williams was then able to convert a three-point play the old fashioned way, finishing a layup and making the free throw. The Longhorns had two chances to win it around the bucket but could not finish, including a play on which some wanted a foul to be called. The refs (correctly, this time) swallowed their whistles. Zona will now face Duke, and Texas will once again go home early from the tournament.

Two for Eleven: That's the stat that everyone will talk about this week. The Big East got 11 teams into the tournament, but only two (Marquette and UConn) are still alive in the Sweet 16. They'll leave out the part that there were two games that matched Big East members against each other, so that number should technically be out of nine. But regardless, Syracuse and Notre Dame did nothing to help the cause on Sunday. When the brackets were released, Daily Onions looked at the Syracuse draw and said the first weekend scares us more than the potential second weekend match ups.  The reason was a second round date with either Xavier or Marquette. The Cuse got Marquette, a team the Orange lost to this season, a team that is athletic as heck, plays hard as all and can get up and down the court, and a team that isn't a great match up for Syracuse. Granted, 17 turnovers and some costly mental mistakes the entire game probably cost Syracuse the game as much as Marquette's play did. We won't talk about the backcourt violation (which isn't actually a backcourt violation - refs got that one wrong), but we'll get to Scoop, Dion, I'm Sorry Rick Jackson, Kris and the rest of the crew in a post later this week. Now, we'll pour another one out for the Big East because Notre Dame couldn't overcome Florida State. So what was supposed to be the battle for Indiana Basketball between ND and Purdue in the Sweet 16, has now turned into the battle for Cinderella between VCU and FSU.

Day 3 of the Madness: Party Foul

There were eight games on the schedule yesterday and the majority of them did not disappoint. We'll start with the games that weren't as close, and work our way to one of the most bizarre finishes in college basketball tournament history.

Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.

Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.

Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.

Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.

Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.

Day 2 of the Madness: Digital Getdown

With the NCAA tournament playing games in our backyard at the United Center, it was a must that we went to check out the action live and in person. That meant we'd be depending on texts, tweets, and the March Madness On Demand App on iPhones, iPads, etc to stay up to date on the action. With this year's tournament being shown on four channels (thanks to Turner Sports and CBS), ratings are up 22% compared to last year and the highest in 20 years. That is what we call bi-winning. Now let's get to some bite sized thoughts on some action from yesterday.

-Bruce Pearl, it was nice knowing you at Tennessee. We were hoping you and your team would show up for a win or go home situation. Instead it was Coach Beilein and his "do it the right way" program at Michigan that spanked the Vols all the way back to Rocky Top.

-Great to see Texas living up to the inconsistency and squeaking by Oakland, 85-81. Huge matchup for the Longhorns tomorrow against #5 Arizona who needed a Derrick Williams block (again) to save a win against Memphis.

-Big Least: Thank you Villanova and Georgetown for carrying the flag for the Big East. Gross. Nova let up a 10 point lead to lose by four to George Mason. Meanwhile, we watched the Hoyas in person, and it was really never a game. G-town looked tentative and out of sync all game, while VCU was on fire from outside and controlled the tempo of the game with their full-court pressure. Yesterday, CAA > Big East.

-Syracuse took care of the Fighting Larry Birds as expected. Now they face Marquette, who made the Big East look good by dominating Xavier the entire game. Cuse and Marquette met in Milwaukee ("the good land") back in late January the Orange losing by 4. Revenge is a female dog.

-We also got to see Notre Dame and Purdue in action in Chicago. If those two teams end up meeting next weekend in the Sweet 16, it could be one of the best games of the tournament. Lots of Daily Onions love for the Notre Dame team, as well as JaJuan Johnson and the Boilermakers.

Big day of hoops about to get underway. Enjoy! We'll catch up with you on Monday to preview the Sweet 16, and show you everyone's ONIONS!

Day 1 of The Madness: Best Afternoon Ever?

As long as you weren't stuck in a hole yesterday for the first four hours of the tournament, you know it was arguably one of, if not the, best start to the tournament ever. Of the first five games, four of them were decided in the final 5 seconds, and had a score differential of two points or less.

First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.

In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?

To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.

In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.

A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.

Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.

Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!

Big: East Region

We've saved the best for last. In my opinion, and the opinion of many others, the East Region is the toughest out there. Let's dive right in because there is lots to discuss.

'Cuse is in the House: The Orange are taking their talents to Cleveland for Round 1 and will take on the Fighting Larry Birds from Indiana State. If they are able to avoid the upset bid from the #14 seed, they'll either play #6 Xavier (in Cleveland - Thank you selection committee!) or #11 Marquette, a Big East foe that Syracuse lost to in January. Not going to lie, but the second round scares us. Xavier is a sneaky team and they'll have somewhat of a home-court advantage, while Marquette is a team that knows Syracuse, plays them every year, and has a victory against them two months ago. If Cuse can get out of Round 2, we'll feel better about things.  The East Region is located in Newark, NJ aka Syracuseville East. Potential Sweet 16 opponent is North Carolina, a match up we kind of like. Hold that thought.

Big East Tournament, Part 2: We know Cuse and Marquette are in this bracket, but there's also #9 Villanova and #5 West Virginia. Nova hasn't won a game in ages, so we are going to go with everyone's favorite flashback Cinderella, #8 George Mason. Meanwhile, Huggie Bear and the boys will actually tip in the first game on Thursday in Tampa, taking on Clemson (a team that just played late Tuesday night in Dayton - Thank you Selection Committee! Love, Clemson). What will definitely be a grind it out, physical game, we are going to take WVU. An added bonus would be Bob Huggins rubbing one of his player's faces, or at least getting nose to nose during a timeout. Potential second round game for WVU puts them against Kentucky, the team they upset last year to go to the Final Four. Huggins also owns Calipari, so while Kentucky looks to have more talent, don't count out the Eers.

You Never Forget Your First: Get your mind out of the gutter. Just about three months ago, Daily Onions made our first Final Four projection of the year. Since then, we've been riding the bandwagon of Sullinger, Diebler, Lighty, Buford, Lauderdale and Craft, aka THE Ohio State University. In case you forgot, this is what we wrote back on December 21 on why OSU would make the Final Four: Dominant Player (Sullinger) + Experience (Lighty played with Havlicek) + Tough, but not too tough of a schedule (Two road losses to the second and third best teams in the conference) = OSU in Final 4. We are sticking to our guns, and Ohio State will be in Houston. It pains me to say, but after taking down Kentucky, OSU will take out Syracuse in the Elite 8 (who would have beat UNC in the Sweet 16) to cut down the nets in Newark.

And then what? Our Final Four includes OSU, Duke, Kansas and Florida. When we first filled out our bracket on Monday, we had OSU beating Duke. Even with new information available and all signs pointing to Duke's Kyrie Irving ready to see some action this week, we are still going to go with OSU. (By the way, the "Chance Irving plays this week" news on Twitter on Tuesday was the equivalent of the public address announcer saying "Daniel LaRusso is going to fight" at the All Valley Karate Championship in 1984. I can only imagine what Twitter would have looked like if people heard what Myagi did in the locker room). OSU will face the Rock Chalk Jayhawk in the National Championship Game, and with a final score of 70-66, Jared Sullinger does his best Carmelo Anthony impression and leads his team to a National Championship as a freshman.

Now that we've gotten that all taken care of, we can watch some basketball! Odds that our picks are even relatively close to what actually happens....no chance. Odds that your picks are close...you tell us! Show us YOUR Onions. Lots of entries came in on Wednesday, so make sure you don't miss out on the fun. I mean who wouldn't want an entire Daily Onions post about them??

How It Will Be Won: West Region

We've digested the weaker side of the tournament with the Southwest and Southeast Regions, now we head to the big boy brackets and we'll start with the West.

Like A Box of Chocolates: Cause you never know what ya gonna get, when it comes to teams like Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, with a little side of UConn thrown in there as well. All these teams have shown signs of greatness (Tennessee beat Pitt early in the year; Texas won at Kansas and was in the Top 5 most of the year; Missouri was great at home and awful on the road; UConn won the Big East Tournament with 5 games in 5 days, but struggled in the month of February), but who is to know which ones show up with their season on the line. We like UConn to win a few games, but not sure how long their legs hold up. Texas and Tennessee each win a game, but bow out in Round 2 to Arizona and Duke respectively. We'll lean in favor of the Big East when Cincy takes on Mizzou.

Pennsylvania Pride: How do you like your PA basketball? Heart of Philadelphia Temple style, or Big Ten Penn State style? We'll see which one prevails in this 10-7 match up, but we are picking Temple to advance to face #2 San Diego State. The Owls could give the Aztecs trouble, but we think Temple will be headed back to the City of Brotherly love after Round 2.

Don't I Know You? Thanks to 11 Big East teams getting into the Tournament, there is a chance this bracket could see UConn going up against Cincinnati in Round 2. For those of you scoring at home, the Huskies defended their home court and beat the Bearcats by 8 in late February.

What will happen? Call it chalk, call it boring, call it what you will, but we have #1 Duke playing #5 Arizona, and #2 San Diego State playing #3 UConn in the Sweet 16. As we predicted back in mid-February, Duke will advance to the Final 4, after ending San Diego State's storybook season.

Our next post will breakdown the toughest region of them all, the East. Funny how the Big East is the best conference, and the East is the best region on paper.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

The Big Easy: Southeast Region

Daily Onions gets a double word score for today's title, since the Southeast Regional final will be held in New Orleans, and it seems to be the simplest road to the Final Four for the top seeds. Here's our in-depth analysis of this region, with who we think will be headed to Houston in two and half weeks. 

Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.

Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.

Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.

What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

Show Us Your ONIONS - Reader Participation!

Three and a half months after Daily Onions was born, we are now to the moment we've all been waiting for. And since we've been waiting for so long, we want YOU to be involved in our Tournament fun!

Here's what we want you to do. Fill out your bracket, check it once or twice, and then let us know who you have in your ELITE 8, FINAL 4 and who you having playing (and winning) the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. We'll collect all the responses and post once the tournament gets underway (please submit your picks by Thursday afternoon). Tell your wife, tell your kids, and have them join the fun as well. You'll receive points for the correct number of teams you have left from the Elite 8 on. For example, 25 points for your Elite 8 teams, 50 for your Final 4 teams, 100 for the Championship and 150 for the winner.  Whoever ends up with most points when its all over gets a post on Daily Onions dedicated to them (who doesn't love to see their name in lights), as well as some Daily Onions SWAG, and bragging rights for the next 365 days. I mean who else can say they are the champion of the Show Us Your ONIONS competition....that's right, no one.

You have three and a half days to do your homework and pick your teams, and make sure you email your picks to the official Daily Onions email address (jrsacks22@gmail.com), or you can post them in the comments section below this post.

We appreciate your readership throughout this season and hope you (and your friends - pass it on!) will participate in our 1st Annual Show Us Your ONIONS!

Coming later today: We'll start our in-depth analysis of this year's bracket, breaking things down region by region. Stay tuned!