And that means the big dance starts on Thursday (technically it starts on Tuesday with the play in games, but does anyone not involved in those schools care?). This weekend is when all the craziness happens and this year a lot of sportscasters are predicting the tourney to be crazier than most.
Recently, we've had three have been the craziest ever (in terms of lower seeds making the Final Four. 2011 when Uconn (3), Kentucky (4), Butler (8), and VCU (11) made the Final Four and 2006 when the Final Four was UCLA (2), Florida (3), LSU (4), and George Mason (11). If you add up the totals of the ranks of the 4 teams, 2011 (26) and 2006 (20) are the #1 and #3 highest (1980 had Louisville (2), Iowa (5), Purdue (6) and UCLA (8), a total of 21). The lowest ever? 2008, the one and only time all four #1s made the Final Four (Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA). If I had my old sports blog up I could have pointed you to the article where I predicted that Final Four...you're just going to have to take my word for it. I also took Kansas to win it all, but that was a homer pick...one that just happened to be right.
I like Kansas again this year. Yea, I know two weeks ago I was going crazy over how inconsistent the Jayhawks have been, but they've gone out and won the Big 12 tourney since then. They are also returning four seniors from a team that lost the championship game to Kentucky last year. The lone freshman, SG Ben McLemore leads the Jayhawks in scoring. The big loss from last season was PF Thomas Robinson, but his backup from last season, Kevin Young has stepped in nicely. Young and C Whithey aren't as adept as scoring one-on-one as Robinson was, but the two post players have a nice inside game between them. There were several pretty feeds from Young to Whithey in the Big 12 Finals game. In winning the Big 12 tourney they had to go through Kansas State and Iowa State, both teams making the big dance (4 and 10 in the West). I like K-state's chances of making the Sweet 16, but both teams are likely to fall to Ohio State.
While this has been one of the crazier seasons I can remember, after looking at things I still believe the cream will rise to the top. While I think the #1s may be vulnerable, the #2s have a great shot.
Showing posts with label Kansas Jayhawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas Jayhawks. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Jayhawks, Anquan Boldin, and Denny Hamlin
OK, I admit this is probably the three most unrelated sports things I could be putting into one post, but it's the three things that caught my attention over the past week.
''I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you.”
As far as I can tell NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is getting fined $25k for saying the above quote...are you kidding me? That is what NASCAR feels are "disparaging remarks" or "denigrating the racing?" This is like the fable, The Emperor's New Clothes. Everyone can see the truth, but none of the drivers can say anything about it for fear of being punished.
Continuing with the "what are you thinking" theme...what were the Ravens thinking trading Anquan Boldin to the 49ers for a 6th round pick! All Boldin did was lead the Ravens in receiving for the last 3 seasons. In the Super Bowl, he caught 6 passes for 104 yards, 1 TD and made, what I felt, was one of the biggest plays to save the win...the 3rd and 1 catch when Flacco audibled where Bolden out worked 49er DB Carlos Rogers for a 15 yard "jump ball." While it was just a first down and only led to a FG, it keep the drive alive...a drive that took the clock down from 9:47 to 4:19, giving the 49ers only one chance to win the game.
Compare that to the Percy Harvin deal that sent Harvin to Seattle for the Seahawks' #1, #7 in 2013 and a mid-round pick in 2014. Now Percy's a good WR, so I'm not trying to put him down...most out there feel it was a win-win trade for both clubs, but my point is how was Boldin only worth a #6? How does that make Ravens' management look in the wake of Flacco's $120 million deal?
The other thing that boggles my mind is that no other team made the Ravens a better offer. I can't believe that no one was willing to give up a 4th or 5th round pick to get Boldin.
Unless they pick up someone in the off season, the Ravens top two WRs are Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones. Meanwhile, the 49ers will lineup Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin...I gotta think the Super Bowl out come would have been different if those were the WRs for their respective clubs.
It you follow this blog long enough you'll find out that my favorite College basketball team is the Kansas Jayhawks. The Jayhawks have left me scratching my head. I wasn't sure how this years Jayhawks would fair, but after losing the 2nd game of the season to then #21 Michigan State, I thought, "OK, we're looking at a down year for KU." Then the Jayhawks reel off 18 straight wins, including then #7 Ohio State and #11 Kansas State. Now I'm thinking, "Maybe they can do some damage in March." Then three straight loses, one coming to TCU who has an RPI of 226!!! Thoughts of the Jayhawks going down in flames and leaving the dance early are going through my head. Then six straight wins including then #10 Kansas State and #14 Oklahoma State. But before I could change my mind again, they get blown out this weekend by Baylor. Who are these guys?
''I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you.”
As far as I can tell NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is getting fined $25k for saying the above quote...are you kidding me? That is what NASCAR feels are "disparaging remarks" or "denigrating the racing?" This is like the fable, The Emperor's New Clothes. Everyone can see the truth, but none of the drivers can say anything about it for fear of being punished.
Continuing with the "what are you thinking" theme...what were the Ravens thinking trading Anquan Boldin to the 49ers for a 6th round pick! All Boldin did was lead the Ravens in receiving for the last 3 seasons. In the Super Bowl, he caught 6 passes for 104 yards, 1 TD and made, what I felt, was one of the biggest plays to save the win...the 3rd and 1 catch when Flacco audibled where Bolden out worked 49er DB Carlos Rogers for a 15 yard "jump ball." While it was just a first down and only led to a FG, it keep the drive alive...a drive that took the clock down from 9:47 to 4:19, giving the 49ers only one chance to win the game.
Compare that to the Percy Harvin deal that sent Harvin to Seattle for the Seahawks' #1, #7 in 2013 and a mid-round pick in 2014. Now Percy's a good WR, so I'm not trying to put him down...most out there feel it was a win-win trade for both clubs, but my point is how was Boldin only worth a #6? How does that make Ravens' management look in the wake of Flacco's $120 million deal?
The other thing that boggles my mind is that no other team made the Ravens a better offer. I can't believe that no one was willing to give up a 4th or 5th round pick to get Boldin.
Unless they pick up someone in the off season, the Ravens top two WRs are Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones. Meanwhile, the 49ers will lineup Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin...I gotta think the Super Bowl out come would have been different if those were the WRs for their respective clubs.
It you follow this blog long enough you'll find out that my favorite College basketball team is the Kansas Jayhawks. The Jayhawks have left me scratching my head. I wasn't sure how this years Jayhawks would fair, but after losing the 2nd game of the season to then #21 Michigan State, I thought, "OK, we're looking at a down year for KU." Then the Jayhawks reel off 18 straight wins, including then #7 Ohio State and #11 Kansas State. Now I'm thinking, "Maybe they can do some damage in March." Then three straight loses, one coming to TCU who has an RPI of 226!!! Thoughts of the Jayhawks going down in flames and leaving the dance early are going through my head. Then six straight wins including then #10 Kansas State and #14 Oklahoma State. But before I could change my mind again, they get blown out this weekend by Baylor. Who are these guys?
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