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!

Be Our Guest...Blogger

Daily Onions aims to please its audience and we like to invite reader participation. Just under a month ago, we had Brady Smith preview Big E Hoops Weekend. Today, we welcome friend and colleague, Carter Jordan to Daily Onions. For the entire basketball season, Carter has staked his claim that Tennessee (his alma mater) is one of the best/most exciting teams in the country (men's team, not women's). Daily Onions has chronicled The Vols erratic play throughout the year in this space. We invited Carter to present his case to Daily Onions Nation. Without further adieu, Mr. Carter Jordan... 

So,  first things…I am a true Big Orange fan and have no idea what Salt City is.  Definitely not being invited back right out of the gates.  However, that is my brash nature and probably the reason that I have been urged to state my case for the Tennessee Volunteers as one of the 5 most exciting teams in college basketball. (Editor's Note: Volunteer Orange is a light orange, so let's not call it Big Orange.)

Pearl returns tonight vs. UK (AP)

As we are less than 24 hours away from the return of the Pearl of College Basketball, I am sure that we are the same amount of time away from a transition of the Vols to a title contender.  Tony Jones, who may be the most awkward coach in history (I never realized how out of place a coach could look until I found myself noticing the space between TJ’s collar and his neck during a post game interview) is stepping aside and letting Keith Sweat back to frantically pace the sidelines.  This is what this team needs; A cardiac coach who can inject his frantic nature into the hearts of some of the most gifted athletes in college basketball.  Two five star recruits (Kid ‘n Play and Baby Lebron) along with a cat-quick Goins, a lanky finisher in Tatum and an inspired Brian Williams, who is playing beyond potential since his removal from the starting lineup, are gearing up for a tough stretch against a formidable SEC East over the final half of the conference schedule. (Editor's Note: For some reason, Carter refers to Tobias Harris as Baby LeBron because of his do-it-all nature and body type. Daily Onions wouldn't go THAT far, but we are jealous that Harris chose Volunteer Orange over Syracuse Orange last year.)

Vol Nation has lots of love for Harris (Getty)

Vol Nation has grown considerably over the last 5 years, picking up many non-alumni fans along the way (Editor's Note: Daily Onions loyal reader Ramy Nammour, "The Monmouth Man", states Pearl is his favorite college basketball coach).  Who cares if some of that has to do with aforementioned people taking their shirts off and cheering in the student section, or barbecues and such….the majority of this rise from the awful days of BuzzBall (if you’re the best man at MJ’s wedding and go from UT to Coastal to Appy St, you suck!) is EARNED!  Were talking 141-53 in the last 5+ years, 4 sweet sixteens, a No. 1 ranking, 4-0 against top five teams at home, and all while coaching on a court called “The Summit”.   

Who cares about the Jekyll and Hyde they’ve pulled with Pitt/Nova thrashings to Oakland CC/Charlotte Prep losses, that’s part of the fever! They are here to ensure you are always left in complete bewilderment.  Coming from a guy who grew up in the heart of ACC country, honing his game from the likes of Stith, Gugliotta, and Harpring (Editor's note: Never thought Bryant Stith would make his way into Daily Onions...amazing), I can tell you completely unbiased (lie) that these UT teams of late produce some of the fastest, high-flying games in college basketball, night in and out.  We are looking at a Cat/Gator week that will end with two hard fought victories and control of the SEC east.  Please know that sanctions will not prevail, hearts will not fade, and the Southeast will rise again.  

From Knox Vegas, Yours Truly,

Steevler McPearlit  (The three white guys on the bench)

P.S. Was told to try and fail rather than never succeed…hence, me writing. 

(Editor's Note: No failing grade here; a job well done from our guest blogger.)

The Weekend that Was

Things have been a bit light in college basketball the past week or two, thanks to finals...ya know, for classes, since these players are "student"-athletes (that's a rant for another time). A quick look at some of the happenings in the college basketball world from this past weekend.

Self probably told Selby to nail a '3' to win the game (KansasCity.com)

-Early Onions Award goes to Josh Selby, the freshman guard from Kansas. After sitting out the first 9 games of the season due to an NCAA violation suspension, Selby nailed a 3 pointer with 26 seconds left to give the Jayhawks the lead in their 2 point win over USC on Saturday. In his first collegiate game Selby also dropped 21 points. Raftery was in Columbus for the Ohio State - South Carolina game, but I'm sure he dropped an "Onions" call when he saw the highlight.

-There were three upsets this weekend....the biggest which happened in the backyard of Daily Onions.  UIC (that's University of Illinois-Chicago) took down the 14th ranked University of Illinois at the United Center. The Illini shot 32% percent from the field, and 23% from 3 pt, and committed 15 turnovers, against a team that came into the game on a four game losing streak.  Illinois has a lot of experience with McCamey, Davis, Tisdale, etc, but they sure did lay an egg in this "neighborhood" rivalry game.

-Gonzaga finally got a quality non-conference win this weekend, as they went to Dallas and beat the 9th ranked Baylor Bears. Good for the Zags, who had one of the toughest early season schedules (along with Butler and Michigan State) in the country.

-Florida (#24) got a nice win at home against 6th ranked Kansas State on Saturday as well. Frank Martin's Wildcats will struggle all season if they shoot 21% in the second half of games like they did against the Gators.  K-State has a ton of athleticism and talent, but have struggled the last two games (a close victory over Loyola and the loss against Florida).  No time to think about it though, as they play UNLV tomorrow night.

-Daily Onions Curse Update: Since I wrote about the Knicks on Wednesday, they've lost 3 straight (Boston, Miami and at Cleveland). Since I wrote about Tennessee last Monday, they've lost two in a row (Oakland and at Charlotte). We gave Oakland some props, and they lost to Michigan. We'll keep making our predictions and hopefully one day our curse will be as popular as Sports Illustrated's.

The Curse of Onions?

After speaking some praise of the Tennessee Volunteers on Monday, the Vols went out and lost at home to Oakland.  The same Oakland team that lost to Michigan State by 1 point on Saturday.
So who is this Oakland team? Here are a few fun facts:

-They are from Rochester Hills, Michigan and play in the Summit League, with the likes of Oral Roberts, IUPUI (the Palindromes), Western Illinois, etc.

Horatio Sans in 'Road Trip'

A slimmer, cleaner cut Greg Kampe (Oakland Press)

-Oakland actually represented the league last year in the NCAA tournament, and lost to Pittsburgh in the first round (Pitt's campus is located in a part of town called Oakland - which is a funny coincidence). -Also, probably the best thing about Oakland, is that their coach was a stunt double for Horatio Sans role as the diner waiter in the movie Road Trip!   

In all seriousness, kudos to Oakland for their tough schedule thus far, playing West Virginia, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Tennessee.  Next up for the Golden Grizzlies - at Ann Arbor to take on Michigan this weekend.

The Weekend that Was

Let's take a quick look at some of the happenings in the college hoops world from this weekend:

-Just over one month ago, University of Tennessee men's basketball program was in the news for a variety of wrong reasons. From off the court issues like coach Bruce Pearl's admission to committing NCAA recruiting violations, to on the court issues like his team losing an exhibition game to Indianapolis (Lemoyne, anyone?), it was a not the greatest start in Knoxville.

Hopson is boxin' it up this season. (AP Photos)

Amazing what a month can do. The Vols are 7-0 now, including wins over two of the Big East's top teams, Villanova (at MSG) and most recently Pitt (in Pittsburgh) on Saturday.  Leading the way for Tennesse has been Scotty Hopson.  Daily Onions contributing reporter, Ramy Nammour, had a front row seat at Saturday's game and said Hopson "has the game and the look to be a top player.....great shooting form, athletic, put on a few pounds and he is set..." Not sure if "the look" had to do with Hopson's "Kid 'n Play" hairstyle, but Scotty has been the Vols leading scorer with 17.9 ppg.  The rest of his game needs to come around a bit, as he only averages 3.7 rpg, and has 21 turnovers compared to 10 assists on the season. UT, however, definitely a team to watch in the SEC.

-Following their showdown at MSG on Tuesday night, Syracuse and Michigan State went in opposite directions in their next game.  Syracuse pasted Colgate (athankyou) 100-43, while Michigan State struggled to beat Oakland, winning by 1 point.


-With Kyrie Irving on the sideline, let's welcome Jared Sullinger to the #1 spot on the Freshman of the Year Leaderboard.  The 6-8, 280 lb freshman forward dropped a 40 spot on Friday night against the Palindromes from IUPUI.  Yes, I know its IUPUI...but still, 40 for a freshman big man is impressive.

-The comeback story of Indiana University isn't ready to make that next step....at least not yet.  After starting the season 7-1, IU lost its first true test, on the road at Kentucky.  The score doesn't do the Hoosiers justice (81-62), as it was a 4 point game with about 5 minutes to play. But not making a FG from the 9 minute mark until 45 seconds left, isn't the best way to win basketball games.  Daily Onions is a big fan of Tom Crean, and knows he will bring IU back to the national stage within the next few years.