Pitino - One of the Best

Louisville's suffocating defense has Coach Rick Pitino one step away from a 6th trip to the Final Four.

Pitino, who has won 2 NCAA titles and has taken 3 different universities to the Final Four, has Louisville playing its best basketball of the season when it counts the most.

Pitino's signature pressure zone defense limited the high scoring Tennessee Volunteers to 34% shooting. Coach Pitino moved to 8-0 in the Regional Semi-Finals and secured a date with the top seeded North Carolina Tarheels on Saturday night.

On a side note, UCLA freshman Kevin Love, put on another show last night with a career high 29 points and 14 rebounds in leading the Bruins to an 88-78 win vs. Western Kentucky.

In my eyes, Love is the most advanced big man to hit the college basketball scene in a decade.

Welcome to the Sweet Sixteen

North Carolina and Kansas look dominant. UCLA and Memphis survived, and Davidson, Western Kentucky and West Virginia are wearing magic slippers. These are just some of the stories of teams making it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Individually, Kevin Love of UCLA is as advanced for a big man as I've seen in many years. Not only is he a special talent, he's simply fun to watch. The 7-foot Lopez twins from Stanford are also very talented and play with such passion. However, the biggest show stopper has been Stephan Currry, son of former NBA-er Dell Curry, as he has skillfully scored 70 points in carrying Davidson to Detroit, host of the MidWest Regional.

Whether you're cheering for a number one seed or a Cinderella, every basketball fan has to be enjoying this. UCLA Bruins coach Ben Howland says it best. "That's why this is the greatest sporting event in all of American sports, because anybody can beat anybody."

Congratulations, Belmont.

In the first round of the men's NCAA tournament, tiny Belmont's enrollment of 4700, almost pulled off a miracle. Losing by 1 point, 70-71 to the "powerhouse" Duke. The Bruins really did themselves proud.

Personally, the first day went very well for me, as I correctly picked 15 of 16 games. The one mistake was the UNLV Runnin' Rebels win over Kent State.

I think that the Friday games will be more competitve and that a couple will most likely come down to last second shots.

Isn't that what makes this tournament so special? Like when last night's 40 foot shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim and mighty Duke survived to play another day.

I've coached in 89 of these games now," Mike Krzyzewski said of his long and storied NCAA road.
"I told the guys as far as game pressure goes, this game has to rank in the top 3 or 4. Hopefully the people at Belmont take that as a real compliment."

Congratulations to Belmont in their outstanding performance on a national stage.

Cinderella: Does the slipper fit?

Teams that are seeded at a #5 or lower with a shot at making the Sweet Sixteen.

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish's inside-outside combination of Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney, are a dangerous duo to make it to Charlotte in the East regional.

Southern Cal: The Trojans Freshman, O.J. Mayo, and company will run their way to Detroit in the Midwest Regional.

West Virginia: Joe Alexander and the Mountaineers have a shot to make it to Phoenix in the West Regional. Alexander averaged over 25 points in his last 6 games.

All three of these teams have the talent to reach the Sweet 16. However, that's as far as any of them are going to go. Because midnight will then strike and Cinderella will then have to leave the dance with or without her shoes.

March Madness: My Final Four Predictions

Today, I'm going to give my predictions for who I feel will make it to the Final Four in San Antonio. In the East Rigional, North Carolina will have little trouble advancing. In the South Regional, Memphis vs. Texas will be an intriguing match-up if it develops, but I give the edge to Texas playing so close to home.

In the Midwest, Kansas has too much natural athletic talent to be knocked off by anyone else in that region. And in the West, UCLA is everyone's favorite; I almost agree with that but feel the Duke Blue Devils will pull off the upset.

So there you have it. This year's Final Four will have the Tarheels from Carolina, the Jayhawks from Kansas, the Longhorns from Texas, and the Blue Devils from Duke.

Go Mountaineers!

One of the country's best players and also best kept secrets, was on display yesterday. On the grand stage of Madison Square Garden, Joe Alexander and his West Virginia teammates, knocked out the 15th rated Connecticut Huskies in the Big East tournament.

Coming into the tournament, the Huskies were one of the hottest teams in the country. But Alexander put on a performance the kind of which legends are made. Scoring 34 points in a variety of ways from high flying dunks to slashing drives, his most impressive was the beautiful turn-around jumpers which were silky smooth.

Retired coach and current ESPN analyst Bob Knight said "in the last three weeks, Alexander has been the most valuable player to his team in the entire country."

Congratulations, Joe Alexander and West Virginia. Go Mountaineers!

My Favorite Time of Year

One of my favorite times of the year is almost here.

For anyone who enjoys sports, college basketball in March is an awesome time. Whether you are cheering for your favorite team or for a Cinderella team, college basketball at this time of the year is everything that sports is supposed to be about.

Here is my prediction for the four number one seeds in March Madness 2008.

1. North Carolina Tarheels (boo)
2. Memphis Tigers
3. Kansas Jayhawks
4. UCLA Bruins

The two teams with an outside shot at squeezing into a number one seed are the Tennessee Volunteers and the Duke Blue Devils. Right now, it's being argued that Tennessee deserves Kansas' seed. But Kansas has played a tougher schedule and rightly deserve the spot. If Duke is able to beat Carolina in the ACC tournament, I don't think it will knock Carolina from being the number 1 seed, but I do believe it will give Duke enough ammunition to obtain one of the other number 1 seeds.

The Tarheels look to be the most talented team in the country right now. Memphis, with their athleticism and their up-tempo style has been too much for teams to handle this year. And it's a foregone conclusion with the season that UCLA has put together that they will be the number one seed in the West bracket.

So, Basketball Fans, get ready because spring is almost here. Let the madness begin.

State Championship Coach Kenny
(and all-around great guy)

Sweeping out Cameron

What an outstanding job schedule makers did in setting up the showdown at Cameron tomorrow night. Number 1 North Carolina vs. #5 Duke. Not only is the winner going to claim the ACC championship, but also a # 1 Seed in the Field of 64.

Some say there is no way that Duke can shoot the 3-ball as well as they did in Chapel Hill. Others say that with the Tarheels point guard, Lawson, back on the court from his ankle injury, that North Carolina is a lock to win this time.

I say that Duke will make it a clean sweep and that everyone who supports baby blue will have to swallow their pride.

Coach K who is the best in the business will collect win #802 as he has his team poised for a run to the Final Four.

There's only one thing preventing North Carolina from possibly having a perfect road record, a Saturday showdown for the ACC regular-season championship at No. 6 Duke.

The Tar Heels are 12-0 on the road, but the Blue Devils are 15-0 at home. North Carolina has won two straight in Durham and will make history if it can extend that streak.

This will be the Tar Heels' fifth undefeated road record in school history and the first since 1983-84. They have never finished 8-0 on the road in ACC play since the league schedule expanded to 16 games in 1991-92.

Duke will have their go at North Carolina, tumbling them from their Number 1 spot and breaking their beautiful record.