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**StarDust Bum** · 03-22-2010, 09:55 PM

Sweet 16 Outlook

SWEET 16 UPDATE...IS A NEW GEORGE MASON IN THE HOUSE?

When we asked at this time last week if there were "any George Masons" in this year's Big Dance field, we weren't sure we'd be even talking about any mid-majors or good, old-fashioned longshots by the time we got to the Sweet 16. After all, last year at this time, most of the worthwhile storylines in the NCAA Tournament had long since been extinguished; indeed, one of our headlines relating to last year's Sweet 16 was labeled "Aristocrats Only, Please." The little guys didn't get invited to the party after the sub-regionals a year ago.

But that was then, and this is now. And as the Sweet 16 approaches, we don't have just one candidate for this year's George Mason. We've got four.

We haven't seen mid-majors make this sort of impact in the Dance in a long while, perhaps since 1979, the last time the Missouri Valley and Ivy League together sent teams (Penn and Larry Bird's Indiana State) this far into the Sweet 16. The Quakers and Sycamores even made it all of the way to the Final Four that year. In fact, the term "mid-major" hadn't even been coined 31 years ago, when the tournament field consisted of only 40 teams. Although the Dance has expanded to 65 teams since, most of those extra slots usually are awarded to major, BCS-conference schools. More than half (7, to be exact) of the current Big XII made it into this year's field, and exactly half (8 of 16) qualified from the Big East. There was also a bit more room for mid-majors in this year's NCAAs than in recent seasons, but those sorts advancing to the Sweet 16 (Northern Iowa, Butler, Saint Mary's, and Cornell) all qualified for the Dance the old-fashioned way, by winning automatic bids from their respective leagues. And by the broadest definition, we suppose we could even expand the mid-major count to five at this week's Sweet 16 if we want to include A-10 rep Xavier, although the Musketeers have been dancing so consistently in recent years, and making it to the second weekend (this is their fourth Sweet 16 since 2004), that they are more accurately grouped with the elite of college hoops. But if you wish to include the "X" in this year's mid-major parade into the Regionals, be our guest.

With four potential "George Masons" left in the field, we have no shortage of interesting storylines, some of which are helping to recall another era in college basketball, when teams from the Missouri Valley and Ivy League and West Coast Conference (then called the WCAC) would routinely contend for national honors.

MVC champ Northern Iowa's presence in the Sweet 16 reminds us of a time in the early days of TGS publishing when the Valley was probably the premier basketball conference in the land. Before our publishing season concludes in a few weeks, we'll be recalling one of the great teams of that era, and indeed one of the all-time (yet mostly forgotten) college hoop dynasties, the Cincinnati Bearcats of George Smith and Ed Jucker, who reached five consecutive Final Fours between 1959-63 while winning a pair of national titles (and cruelly denied a third). But Cincy was hardly the only storyline those days in the Valley, which packed a powerful wallop despite a membership that included only seven schools. Chuck Orsborn's Bradley Braves were also a powerhouse in those years featuring teams starring future NBA star Chet Walker and the high-scoring Mack Herndon and Levern Tart, winning coveted NIT titles (which were almost as hard as winning NCAA crowns back then) in 1960 and 1964. Future Iowa and Oregon State coach Ralph Miller's Wichita State teams were also a force in those days; the 1962-'63 Shockers (who also had a graduate assistant named Sonny Vaccaro), featuring a pair of future New York Knicks, prolific scoring F Dave Stallworth and C Nate Bowmman, might have been the third best team in the country, if not the best, given that they were the only team to beat both Cincinnati and Loyola-Chicago, the NCAA finalists that season. Wichita, which would make the Final Four two years later, was nonetheless denied an NCAA berth in those early years of the 60s, as was Bradley, Saint Louis (which won a short-lived All-Catholic postseason tourney in 1963), Tulsa, Drake, and North Texas because of the Cincy Bearcats, who kept winning Valley titles in those seasons long before the NCAA allowed conferences to send multiple teams to the Big Dance.

Saint Mary's surprise appearance in the Sweet 16 recalls a golden era of the West Coast Conference (called the WCAC until 1989) that once even featured the Gaels, who, paced by a fiery forward named Tom Meschery (who would later be a Philadelphia Warriors teammate of Wilt Chamberlain's the night the big Dipper scored his 100 points vs. the Knicks in 1962, and several years later when as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics would actually challenge Wilt to a fight) reached the Elite 8 in 1959 before losing to Pete Newell's eventual national champion Cal Bears. Of course, Bill Russell's storied, back-to-back national champion USF Dons hailed from the WCAC in the mid '50s, and the league continued to produce a series of national contenders at USF and Santa Clara for the next few decades, as well as the bittersweet run to the Elite 8 by Bo Kimble's Loyola-Marymount in the wake of Hank Gathers' tragic death in 1990. Yes, there was a WCC before Gonzaga. As for Saint Mary's, it hadn't won an NCAA game since that '59 season until it defeated Richmond and Villanova last week in Providence.

Cornell's second weekend presence also recalls a long-ago era at TGS when Ivy teams were also occasional national contenders, with none any better than Butch Van Breda Kolff's Princeton teams of the mid '60s featuring Bill Bradley. The best of those Tiger quintets qualified for the Final Four in 1965, when Bradley's Princeton was defeated by a Michigan team paced by Cazzie Russell in the national semifinals at Portland. Bradley would go on to score a Final Four-record 58 points in the consolation game vs. aforementioned Wichita State. Later in the decade, Columbia was a powerhouse on the hardwood featuring teams led by future pros Jim McMillian and Haywood Dotson; the 1967-68 Lions reached the Sweet 16 before falling in overtime to Lefty Driesell's Davidson, 61-59, and Columbia eventually finished as the sixth-ranked team in the land. Princeton, under Pete Carril, and Penn, first under Dick Harter, then Bob Weinhauer, were powers for much of the '70s (Carril winning the NIT in 1975), with Weinhauer's Quakers the last Ivy team to reach the Final Four in 1979.

Of course, getting to the Sweet 16 is an accomplishment worth celebrating for any team, especially a mid-major. But, if anything has been true about most Big Dances, it's that the dreamers start losing sleep the further they go. Northern Iowa, Saint Mary's, Butler, and Cornell are now working with the casino's money, but history suggests that it is a short bankroll. No matter, you can't tell them that, because they're not listening while on this ride of their lives, and they all remember what George Mason did in 2006. And at worst, each of these "mids" looks to have a puncher's chance in the Sweet 16. But Thursday and Friday, with big, bad foes from the Big East, SEC, Big Ten, and Big XII waiting, will come faster than any of them can possibly know.

Of the many interesting storylines from the current Sweet 16, perhaps the best one has unfolded at Cornell, and with one of its veteran players, in particular.

The Big Red has been winning consistently the past three years with core of now-senior contributors (Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote, and Louis Dale) who have been starters and stars of the team throughout their recent run of success in the Ivies. Until this season, one of their unheralded senior classmates, 6-7 F Jon Jaques, had provided plenty of morale and practice support, but had not been a primary factor in Cornell's past two Ivy title campaigns in '08 and '09, spending most of his game time on the bench. In his three previous years as a member of the varsity team, Jaques played in only 34 of the Big Red's 87 games, averaging barely three minutes and one point per game. His only real notoriety came from, of all things, the New York Times and its college sports-related blog site, The Quad, in which Jaques has been an occasional and entertaining contributor. Jaques' basketball work ethic, however, never ceased, and his positive attitude was always appreciated by his teammates and coach Steve Donahue, who admired and enjoyed the 6'7 Jaques so much to name him one of this year's tri-captains.

Finally, in his last trip around the Big Red track this season, Jaques' perseverance began to pay off. An injury suffered by starting F Alex Tyler in the Legends Classic at Philadelphia in late November prompted Donahue to give Jaques, one of his best on-ball defenders, some important playing time against Drexel. Jaques delivered, also making a couple of clutch free throws in the Big Red's win, prompting Donahue to nominate Jaques for the all-tournament team despite those limited contributions. Donahue considered it a gesture of thanks, if nothing else. "I felt that was the last we'd see of Jon," said Donahue in an AP story. "I just thought I would reward him for what's he's done over the last three years in accepting his role.

"Little did I know he would end up being one of our best players for the rest of the season."

Tyler's injury, and Jaques' performance vs. Drexel, however, opened up an opportunity for more playing time. Jaques was given his first career start two games later against Saint Joseph's and scored a career-high 15 points against the Hawks. A week later, Jaques connected on 5 of 6 triples in a 20-point Cornell win over St. John's. Suddenly, in a three-game span, Jaques had averaged 13.7 points, after never having scored more than 13 points total in any of the three preceding years!

Had he never made those on-court contributions, Jaques' value to the program was secure nonetheless, mainly because he was such a tiger in practice against Wittman, who credits Jaques' practice work with his own improvement as a player. But the fierce practices eventually helped Jaques as much as Wittman, as coach Donahue is quick to point out. "I think that (daily practice vs. Wittman) has better enabled Jon to help us this year," says Donahue. "If he didn't do that and every single day try to get better, then there's no way he would have been prepared for the situation when the opportunity arose."

Jaques' fellow senior, G Louis Dale, is another unabashed supporter. "It's a testament to him how he's been able to not play for three years and come in and be such a contributor for us," says Dale. "I don't know how I would have handled that."

And getting Jaques on the court in game situations continues to help Wittman, as the coach points out. "To put another kid out there with his size that can shoot the ball, it's enabled Ryan to get more looks," says Donahue. "Ryan this year has been able to get more 3-point looks than ever. It also frees Ryan a bit more on the defensive end, leaves him to save his energy for other things like rebounding."

Jaques also has no bigger fan than Wittman, who is thrilled that his classmate is making such an on-court contribution. "He's given us a huge lift, just giving us another option, another person who can knock down shots," said Wittman, who led the Big Red in scoring for the fourth straight season at 17.5 ppg. "I think everyone's really happy that it's paying off for him."

Jaques, who to no one's surprise also leads the team in taking charges, became a fixture in the starting lineup after that early December game vs. St. Joe's and has been hovering near a blistering 50% from beyond the arc all season, scoring a career-high 20 points on the night Cornell sewed up another Ivy League title against Brown on March 5. Jaques continued his contributions through the sub-regionals, and had 7 points in the first half last Sunday in Jacksonville against Wisconsin, helping stake the Big Red to a 12-point halftime edge en route to a surprisingly easy 87-69 romp past the Big Ten Badgers.

Opponents have taken note of Jaques as well. Especially rival Ivy Leagues coaches, one of whom, Yale's James Jones, summed up Jaques' unexpected contributions this season. "The best story in college basketball, in my mind," said the Yale coach to the Syracuse Post-Standard. And Jaques' inspirational tale is definitely something his Cornell coach Steve Donahue will never forget. "It's something I'll use for the rest of my career," said Donahue. "It's an incredible story."

Believe it or not, however, there's another twist to the Jaques saga, far more emotional and poignant than anything on the hardwood. And if you're not yet convinced the Jaques tale is the most heartwarming of this basketball season, we haven't even gotten to the part that will bring tears to your eyes.

Jaques' father, Doug, a Stanford grad and now an attorney (and a wonderful fellow despite both), grew up in Long Beach, California. Long ago, Doug Jaques had a younger brother who waged a courageous battle against cancer during his teenage years. While conducting that war in the mid 70s against the insidious disease, Doug's younger brother bravely gave his life savings of $1000 to his parents, whom he asked to use it to somehow help future children with cancer.

The younger Jaques eventually lost his battle with cancer, but taught the world a lot about giving and sharing during his brief lifetime. And his fight continues to this day at a Center that bears his name as part of the Miller Children's Hospital of the regional Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, which continues to be a leader in the areas of research and treatment of brain tumors, leukemia, sickle cell, and hemophilia.

The name of the facility at Long Beach Memorial? The Jonathan Jaques Cancer Center at Miller Children's Hospital. His namesake, a nephew he didn't live long enough to see or enjoy, is the one taking those charges and making those clutch baskets the past few months for Cornell.

Jon Jaques.

SWEET 16 & ELITE 8 ON DECK!

We'd love to keep reminiscing, but it's time to review recent Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight history. And there have been a few trends worth noting.

In the Sweet Sixteen, favorites have been in control the past two seasons, covering 11 of 16 chances (including 6 of 8 a year ago), although those trends have been see-sawing over the past decade; the dogs held the advantage the preceding three years (15-8-1 vs. line between 2005-07), while favorites fared better in a 4-season span before that between 2001-04, with the chalk 19-12-1 against the number in those years. There were no double-digit Sweet Sixteen dogs a year ago (and only Cornell might qualify as such this week vs. Kentucky), but they're 9-5 vs. the line in the Sweet 16 since 1999. Some conference point-spread trends in this round are worth noting, especially the Big East, which was 3-2 in the Sweet 16 a year ago but only 11-20-2 since '98 in this round against the number.

More illuminating trends appear in the Elite 8, where underdogs have recorded a notable 28-18 spread mark since '98 (with two pick'ems). Conference-wise, note that Big Ten teams (three of which still alive heading into this weekend) stand 10-4 vs. the line in the Elite 8 over the past decade, while the Big XII reps are only 4-12 in this round against the number over the same span, losing and failing to cover twice a year ago. Shorter-priced Elite 8 chalk (laying 3 1/2 or fewer) is just 4-11 vs. the line in that 12-season span.

Following are the specific breakdowns (not including pick'ems or result "pushes") by point-spread category and conferences for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 since 1998.

SWEET SIXTEEN FAVORITES

Spread category W-L

1-3 points..........16-13
31/2-61/2...............13-15
7-91/2................12-9
10 or more points...5-9
Total...............46-46

Spread record by conference: ACC 12-12-1, Atlantic 10 6-2, Big East 11-20, Big Ten 14-11, Big XII 14-10, CAA 1-0, C-USA 5-3, Horizon 1-2, MAC 1-1, Mid-Continent 1-0, MVC 1-3, Mountain West 0-2, Pac-10 9-14, SEC 11-10, SoCon 1-0, Sun Belt 1-0, WAC 2-1, West Coast 2-3.

ELITE EIGHT FAVORITES

Spread category W-L

1-3 points..........4-11
31/2-61/2...............10-8
7-91/2................3-6
10 or more points...1-3
Total..............18-28

Spread record by conference since 1998: ACC 7-6, Atlantic 10 3-2, Big East 7-8, Big Ten 10-4, Big XII 4-12, CAA 1-0, C-USA 2-3, Pac-10 6-6, SEC 5-4, SoCon 1-0, WAC 1-1, West Coast 1-0.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-22-2010, 09:56 PM

Sweet 16 Primer

Seven years after Maryland’s Drew Nicholas beat the buzzer to end Brett Blizzard’s spectacular collegiate career at UNC-Wilmington in a first-round NCAA Tournament game, Michigan St. put an end to the Terrapins’ season in a similar before-the-horn fashion. The Spartans, playing without two of their best players, advanced to the Midwest Region semifinals thanks to Korie Lucious’ heroic shot.

Tom Izzo’s team led nearly the entire game and by as much as 16 in the second half, only to see Greivis Vasquez put on a remarkable performance at crunch time that surged Maryland into the lead even though it had trailed by nine with less than two minutes left. After another Vasquez bucket gave the Terps the lead with six ticks remaining, Michigan St. rushed the ball up the floor where it came to Lucious on the right wing.

The sophomore guard, filling in for star Kalin Lucas, took one dribble to his left and launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the clock reached zero. It caught nothing but nylon, sending the Spartans’ bench and the campus back in East Lansing into hysterics. Michigan St. had prevailed 85-83 as a 1 ½-point underdog.

The victory was bittersweet, however. Lucas, the team leader who had scored a career-high 25 points in Friday’s narrow win over 12th-seeded New Mexico St., sustained a torn Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the tournament.

Moments after Lucious’s unforgettable shot, Purdue kept alive its Final Four hopes by surviving a game effort from Texas A&M in overtime. Chris Kramer, the Boilers’ senior known for tenacious defense throughout his career, got offensive and scored the game-winner on a layup off a strong crossover dribble that left an Aggies’ defender in the dust.

Matt Painter’s team, which had been written off by nearly every pundit coming into the Big Dance due to the loss of All Big-Ten forward Robbie Hummel, moved on with a 63-61 triumph as a two-point underdog. Despite the extra session, ‘under’ backers cashed tickets when the 124 combined points fell short of the 127 ½-point total.

Purdue, the No. 4 seed in the South Region, will now face top-seeded Duke in Houston. Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the Blue Devils as seven-point favorites with a total of 129. As of early Monday morning, most betting shops had Mike Krzyzewski’s squad as an 8 ½-point ‘chalk’ with a total of 129 ½. Gamblers can take the Boilers on the money line for a plus-350 return (risk $100 to win $350).

The Duke-Purdue winner will face either Saint Mary’s or Baylor in the Elite Eight. Omar Samhan led the Gaels to victory over second-seeded Villanova by scoring 32 points in Saturday’s second-round showdown.

LVSC opened Baylor as a four-point favorite with a total of 146. As of early Monday morning, most books had the Bears favored by 3 ½ with the total reduced to 145. Randy Bennett’s team is available for a plus-145 payout if it can win outright.

Back to Michigan St., which will take on No. Iowa in the late game Friday night in St. Louis. LVSC opened the Spartans as four-point favorites with a total of 124. The Panthers sent the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed home early Saturday when Ali Farokhmanesh put a fork in the Jayhawks by draining an audacious 3-pointer from the right wing that put his team up by four with 33 seconds remaining. Farokhmanesh had also inserted the dagger into UNLV in Thursday’s first-round game.

In Thursday’s lid-lifter in Salt Lake City, top-seeded Syracuse will collide with Butler. LVSC opened the Orange as a six-point favorite with a total of 139. As of late Sunday night, most spots had the ‘Cuse at seven with the total slightly adjusted to 138 ½. Bettors can take the Bulldogs to win outright for a plus-260 return (risk $100 to win $260).

Jim Boeheim’s club dominated both Vermont and Gonzaga early and often to cruise into the Sweet 16.

Xavier and Kansas St. will play the late game Thursday in Salt Lake City. Most books have tabbed the Wildcats as 4 ½-point favorites with a total of 153 ½. The Muskateers are plus-175 on the money line.

Frank Martin’s program will be looking for its first Elite Eight showing since 1988 when Mitch Richmond led Lon Kruger’s team to the Midwest Region semifinals, where it lost at the old Pontiac Silverdome in Motown to arch-rival Kansas, the eventual national champion.

Xavier, my sleeper team who I tabbed to get all the way to the Final Four, disposed of Minnesota and No. 3 seed Pitt over the weekend. The Muskateers won a 71-68 decision Sunday over the Panthers as 1 ½-point underdogs. Jordan Crawford, the sophomore guard who transferred from Indiana, was nothing short of sensational with 28 and 27 points against the Gophers and Panthers, respectively.

The backcourt matchup of Xavier’s Crawford and Terrell Holloway against K-St.’s Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente promised to be extremely entertaining. Pullen shot down BYU by scoring 34 points in an 84-72 second-round win Saturday night in Oklahoma City. The Wildcats took the cash against the Cougars as 4 ½-point favorites.

Have we not mentioned Cornell yet? This space has been hyping this squad since it opened the season by destroying Alabama at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. The Big Red trounced both fifth-seeded Temple and fourth-seeded Wisconsin in blowout fashion. They became the first Ivy League school to make the Sweet 16 since Penn did so in 1979.
Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman combined to score 50 points and shoot down the Badgers 87-69, as Cornell won outright as a four-point underdog. In the first two rounds, Wittman drained 17-of-25 shots, including 7-of-11 of 3-point territory.

Waiting for Steve Donahue’s team at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse will be No. 1 seed Kentucky, which pounded East Tennessee State (101-70) and Wake Forest (90-60) in the Big Easy this past weekend. LVSC opened the ‘Cats as 10-point favorites with a total of 139, but most spots had UK at 9 ½ with the total in the 145-146 range as of early Monday morning.

Like Saint Mary’s, Washington is still alive despite being a double-digit seed. The Huskies won a thriller against Marquette on Thursday night thanks to Quincy Pondexter’s game-winning bucket with 1.7 ticks remaining. Next, they punished New Mexico by an 82-64 score.

Lorenzo Romar’s team will face West Va. at 7:25 p.m. Eastern on Thursday at the Carrier Dome. The Mountaineers, seeded second in the East Region, thumped Morgan St. before beating Missouri 68-59 Sunday as six-point favorites.

Bob Huggins’ team was listed as a five-point favorite with a total of 142 as of early Monday morning. Washington is plus-190 on the money line.

For the second time in four seasons, Ohio St. and Tennessee will meet in the Sweet 16. In 2007, UT blew a huge lead and allowed the Buckeyes to rally for a victory on their way to the finals where they eventually lost to Florida. The Vols beat San Diego St. and Ohio over the weekend, while Ohio St. sent UC-Santa Barbara and Ga. Tech home.

Thad Matta’s team is favored by 4 ½ with the total in the 134-135 range. UT is plus-180 to win outright.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--All-Tournament Team (so far)
Omar Samhan (Saint Mary’s)
Ali Farokhmanesh (No. Iowa)
Wesley Johnson (Syracuse)
Jordan Crawford (Xavier)
Ryan Wittman (Cornell)

--Most Impressive Teams (to date)
1-Syracuse
2-Kentucky
3-Washington
4-Kansas St.
5-No. Iowa

--Eleven conferences remain in the field out of the 16 teams. The Big 10 leads the way with three schools still dancing, while the SEC, Big 12 and Big East each have a pair of teams left. The Horizon, Ivy, Missouri Valley, ACC, Pac-10, Atlantic-10 and West Coast conferences each have one representative remaining.

--According to Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News, Auburn could target former star player Chuck Person to be its next head coach if its advances to top-choice Tubby Smith are rebuffed.

--The New York City media seems to think Billy Donovan would be interested in taking the St. John's job, which became open after Norm Roberts was recently dismissed. Multiple NYC newspapers mentioned Donovan's name this past weekend, including the Post's Dick 'Hoops' Weiss. Guess what? That ain't happening. The Gators lose only Dan Werner from this year's team, which lost to BYU in double overtime of their first-round game Thursday in Oklahoma City. UF also lost a first-round game in two OTs to Creighton in the 2002 Tourney.

--Despite leading Houston to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 18 years, Tom Penders is being forced out and will resign Monday according to multiple reports.

--The coaching carousel is going to get hot and heavy -- as always -- over the next 10 days. Three Big East jobs -- Seton Hall, St. John's and DePaul -- are available.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-23-2010, 02:47 PM

NCAA Tournament Betting Summary

Whew, what a four days of college basketball. Similar to the Food Network’s Man vs. Food, in this case it was Man vs. Brackets and the Brackets won with a 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th seed all in the Sweet 16. If the last couple of tournaments have been a little chalky, things evened out over time the last four days.

CBS might have to do an extended remake of Jennifer Hudson’s new version of “One shining moment” for this tournament with all the buzzer beaters and tight contests. A very lucky 13 of the 33 games played were decided by four points or less. Only eight of the seeds listed four or higher made it to their respective regions. Talk about survive and advance!
While this is all exciting stuff, how did sports bettors do? Like always, results are mixed depending on the individual, however if underdogs were one’s preference, you likely did fairly well. If favorites were played more frequently, might be time to check with your sports books reload bonus program.

Favorites are 31-18 SU for the entire tournament, with 23-26 ATS record. The first round was especially tough on them with 13-20 ATS mark. They did come back over the weekend with 10-6 ATS record.

As is the case each year, the favorite isn’t always the higher seed. To date those teams with the lower numbers assigned them by the tournament committee are 33-15 and 23-25 ATS.

Further breaking down the side action, interesting developments occurred. Favorites that were favored by 7.5 or more moved forward with 14-1 record, with the shocking loss of the top overall team Kansas being the lone exception. Backing these clubs was a losing proposition however with a 7-8 spread record.

Speaking of losing, that’s exactly what short favorites have done thru two rounds. Teams favored by four points or less were 9-14 SU and dastardly 8-15 ATS. This was particularly true in the first round with only five victories and 4-11 ATS record.

The Big East was supposed to be the best conference this season and was thought to be more than tested for this event after facing each other all year. Only two teams have made the Sweet 16 and the league is 6-6 and 5-7 ATS to this juncture.

The Big 12 was listed behind the Big East as a power conference and was thought to have no less than three teams playing this next weekend. However, with the Jayhawks vanquished, only Kansas State and Baylor moved on and the conference is 5-7 ATS to date.

The power conference has been the Big Ten with three entrants and 7-2 record (4-5 ATS).

The biggest winner in a manner of speaking in the so-called mid-major, with Butler, St. Mary’s and Northern Iowa all advancing and not coincidently, all three won their conference tournaments. Cornell might be the first Ivy League team in the Sweet 16 in 31 years, but after two blowouts wins as underdogs, this is serious club.

Turning to the total, the Under has been the choice play at 27-22 overall. That was accomplished in the first round with 19-14 Under mark. Games that closed over 140 were 13-11 Under, while contests that went off below 130 points were 7-6 Under.

Get started on your homework early for the next round of games beginning Thursday.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:09 AM

Title Odds
Here is a look at each team's title odds according to Sportsbook.com, along with my thoughts on their chances...

Baylor +2500: Perhaps the least publicized of any Sweet 16 team, yet favored to reach Elite 8. I don’t see it though.

Butler +5000: Don’t believe this team has the horses to get by Syracuse.

Cornell +7500: Honestly…performance this weekend was un-Cinderella-like. Kentucky must be on-guard.

Duke +500: Very long odds for highest remaining ******* Outplay Factor team. My new pick for title.

Kansas State +600: Toughest remaining road to title of any high seed. Longshot.

Kentucky +175: Most dominant team in first two rounds. Yet to be tested, but still the favorite.

Michigan State +3000: Lucas injury devastating. Will be lucky to survive UNI.

Northern Iowa +5000: If 3-point shots continue to fall, Final Four berth possible. That’s it.

Ohio State +800: Favorite in Midwest Region, best player, best defense.

Purdue +6000: Heavy underdog to Duke, has matched up poorly in recent head-to-head play.

St Marys (CA) +5000: Samhan the player-of-the-tournament thus far. One more win possible.

Syracuse +400: Written off after Onuaku injury, yet West Region looks there for the taking.

Tennessee +3500: Playing much better than expected. Buckeyes a stern test though.

Washington +4000: Is a Pac 10 team really a Cinderella? Seem to be coming back together at right time.

West Virginia +600: Defense was superb for the last 2-3 weeks. East Region final matchup vs. UK would be outstanding.

Xavier +4000: New game plan, same tourney results, now 14-1-1 ATS in L16 tourney games. Wow.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:10 AM

W Virginia PG Bryant out of NCAAs with broken foot

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -West Virginia point guard Darryl ``Truck'' Bryant has broken his right foot in practice and will miss the rest of the NCAA tournament.

Coach Bob Huggins made the announcement Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Mountaineers play Washington on Thursday night in Syracuse, N.Y., in the East Regional semifinals

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:11 AM

Spartans to miss Lucas for remainder of tourney

East Lansing, MI (Sports Network) - Michigan State's leading scorer Kalin Lucas will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament after an MRI on Monday revealed a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left foot.

Lucas, who won the Big Ten Player of the Year as a sophomore during the 2008-09 campaign, will need four to six months to recover from the injury, which was suffered in the first half of Sunday's second-round game against Maryland.

The Spartans were able to pull out an 85-83 victory in that game and advance to their third straight Sweet 16, but they will be without Lucas' 14.8 ppg and 4.0 apg the rest of the way.

"We feel terrible for Kalin, he was having a great NCAA Tournament," said MSU head coach Tom Izzo of the junior guard. "The good news is there is no doubt he will make a full and complete recovery. He's a tough kid and he'll do everything necessary to return to his elite level."

Michigan State, seeded fifth in the Midwest Region, next plays ninth-seeded Northern Iowa in St. Louis on Friday

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:12 AM

Sweet 16 Spreads

If you like big upsets, then you’ve probably enjoyed the first two rounds of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. We’ve been as busy as ever at Bodog’s online sportsbook and have done fairly well for ourselves with all the underdogs that have covered their spreads.

One of our biggest wins of the tournament so far came Saturday when Murray State covered a 5-point spread in losing to Butler, 54-52. Most of our bettors seemed to think the Racers would be happy with their first-round upset of Vanderbilt, but Murray State sure made it interesting for the Bulldogs.

Butler, which hasn’t lost since November, will take on Syracuse next and in an interesting contest to handicap we’ve got the Orange by 7 points. If that seems like a lot, perhaps you didn’t watch the absolute destruction of Gonzaga. Or, perhaps you’re right and it’s a lot.

We had another good win on Sunday when Purdue +3 won outright over Texas A&M, 63-61. Nobody gave the Boilermakers much of a shot to do anything in March Madness when star forward Robbie Hummel went down with an injury with a few games left in the regular season, but Purdue is a tough, physical team that won’t back down against anyone.

Purdue gets Duke next in a massive challenge for the Boilermakers. We’ve got the Blue Devils by a whopping 8 points and I think it will be interesting to see how the bettors react to such a big number for a Sweet 16 affair between two schools from major conferences.

Our biggest spread of the eight Sweet 16 games is no surprise. That would be Kentucky by 9 over Cornell. We’ve actually seen very strong betting support for the Big Red and expect the same when they take on the ultra-talented Wildcats. Every tournament seems to have a Cinderella that the people love and Cornell is wearing the slipper this year.

In the futures department, we banked a decent amount of cash when Kansas was sent crashing and burning by Northern Iowa on Saturday.

Kentucky is left as the 2/1 favorite but we’ve seen a lot of money coming in on both Syracuse (4/1) and Duke (9/2).

Baylor (15/1) is another school that continues to draw futures action while Michigan State (22/1) has seen practically no support with the news that star guard Kalin Lucas ruptured his left Achilles tendon during the first half of Sunday's game against Maryland.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:14 AM

Xavier's NCAA excellence by design

CINCINNATI (AP) - Xavier bristles whenever anyone suggests it's doing quite well for a mid-major school. Another trip to the NCAA's round of 16 might finally remove the hyphen.

There's no mid-anything about the Jesuit school, which is growing a reputation as a major player in college basketball.

The Musketeers (26-8) are in the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the third straight year. Only one other school - Michigan State - can match that. And the Musketeers' pre-eminence has nothing to do with March surprises or tournament upsets.

They drew it up that way. They spend that way. They win that way.

``Everything in our program is first-class - how we travel, how we recruit, the use of charter planes, the Cintas Center, how we schedule,'' coach Chris Mack said, in an interview.

There's a formula for winning in college basketball, one that applies to programs big and small. In the last decade, Xavier has gotten it right.

The Musketeers are making their ninth NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years and their fifth in a row, set to play Kansas State in the regional semifinals on Thursday in Salt Lake City. Only a dozen schools have made the NCAA tournament each of the last five years: Xavier, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Gonzaga, Texas, Texas A&M, Villanova and Wisconsin.

The small university - 4,200 undergraduates - began emerging as a regular NCAA tournament team in the 1980s, when it played in a Midwestern Collegiate Conference that was the definition of mid-major. As the acclaim grew, the school's administration decided the basketball program could raise its profile and give it a face across the country.

It wasn't going to be easy or cheap to become one of the best.

``The formula is simple,'' athletics director Mike Bobinski said, in a phone interview. ``Being successful isn't all that simple. If it was that easy, there would be more than just a couple of teams advancing deep in the tournament every year.''

Xavier moved up to the Atlantic 10, which had some of the nation's top teams in Temple and Massachusetts, for the 1995-96 season. Five years later, it opened the state-of-the-art Cintas Center on campus, which became a springboard to much bigger things.

``If you want to be successful at a high level, your investment and commitment need to be at a high level,'' Bobinski said. ``You can't have one without the other.''

In terms of facilities and finances, Xavier had left the mid-major ranks. It was competing with the big boys. Soon, it would be beating them, too.

Since the 10,250-seat arena opened, Xavier has won or shared six A-10 regular-season titles, including the last four. The Musketeers have been a regular in the national rankings, making it up to No. 7 last season. And at tournament time, they've excelled.

A big part of the equation is Xavier's willingness to play the nation's best in the nonconference schedule. In the past three seasons, that schedule has included schools such as Duke, Florida, Tennessee, Kansas State, Missouri, LSU, Indiana, Virginia, Auburn, Virginia, Butler, Wake Forest, Marquette, Memphis and Creighton.

``The double-edged sword is that you've got to be good at it,'' Bobinski said. ``If you are going to put that out front, it behooves you to be successful more often than not.''

They've been successful so often now that they can't help but wince when someone suggests the program is something less than a major success.

``I mean, I don't know a lot of mid-majors that make three consecutive Sweet 16s,'' said center Jason Love, the only senior on the team. ``So you can throw that out of the door right now.''

The school has a knack for hiring the right coach to take the program to the next level - Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller and now Mack, a Cincinnati prep star who played at Xavier and has watched the program outgrow the mid-major label.

``It gets under our skin,'' Mack said. ``I guess I just have a hard time defining that label. There's nothing in our program that we feel isn't high-major, from how we recruit to the travel to the facility to the nonconference schedule to the NBA players (from Xavier). I think it all speaks to a high-major program.''

With each NCAA tournament win, the Musketeers make their point.

``I would say all you have to do is lay out our accomplishments on paper,'' Bobinski said. ``The last 10 years speak for themselves.''

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 12:15 AM

Big Red expecting more as UK awaits

Big Red is ready for Big Blue.

Cornell has smashed all ideas that the basketball program is simply a bunch of Ivy League brainiacs who should be thrilled with just playing one game in the NCAA tournament.

The Big Red are enjoying their moment as the dominant darlings of the tournament.

They pounded single-digit seeds Temple and Wisconsin by 31 points to become the lowest seed to advance this year to the round of 16 and the first Ivy League team to reach the second weekend of the tournament since 1979.

And the 12th-seeded Big Red (29-4) did it with the type of fun and flair often missing in the serious survive-and-advance mood of March.

The upperclassmen told quirky stories about their video-game playing and ``Lost'' parties in the house they share and affectionately call the Dog Pound. A lost wager forced one player to give a ridiculous non-answer to the first question of an off-day news conference that baffled reporters. When basketballs were nowhere to be found on the ball rack, Cornell ran its layup line without them and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

So why stop now?

Up ahead for Big Red, the top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats (34-2) in the East Regional semifinal Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y., about an hour from Cornell's campus.

``I don't know how much extra motivation you need in the Sweet 16, trying to play to go to the Elite Eight,'' forward Ryan Wittman said Tuesday. ``If that's not motivation already, you shouldn't be here.''

Cornell is undaunted by the challenge of playing the Wildcats after testing its mettle against the big boys of basketball.

The Big Red pushed then-No. 1 Kansas to the limit in Allen Fieldhouse before losing 71-66 in January. They trailed by only six at halftime in an 88-73 loss at Syracuse in November - at the Carrier Dome where they'll play Thursday.

They easily knocked off the Atlantic 10 champion Owls and shot 61 percent from the field to dominate the Big Ten's Badgers last weekend in Jacksonville, Fla.

Cornell won't back down against any team - even the Wildcats and their seven NCAA championships. Cornell vs. Kentucky is no mismatch between one program known for brains and another for basketball brawn.

Cornell is tournament-tested and stocked with seniors who have reached three straight NCAA tournaments and played in a slew of big games in intimidating environments.

Kentucky is just the latest favored team in Big Red's way, not the first.

``We want to advance; we expected to advance,'' Wittman said. ``That was one of our goals. We just didn't want to be here.''

Cornell has history on its side, even though it stretches back nearly 44 years. The Big Red won their lone matchup against Kentucky, 92-77 on Dec. 28, 1966. Cornell won the game a season after Kentucky lost to Texas Western College (now UTEP) in the national championship game. The Wildcats finished the season 13-13, 8-10 in the SEC.

Cornell hopes playing so close to home - its campus is a mere 55 miles away from Syracuse - will give it a home-dome advantage. Neutral fans who show up to watch the Washington-West Virginia game are usually swayed into rooting for the underdog, especially against a basketball blue blood like Kentucky.

``Hopefully we can get a lot of fans up there,'' Wittman said. ``Obviously, we should be pretty familiar with the arena, playing there the past few years. Hopefully, we can get a lot of Syracuse fans cheering for us, as well.''

Playing against a Kentucky team full of budding stars like freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Cornell will need all the help it can get to have a chance of pulling off its third straight upset.

Big Red's run is only surprising when looking at the early years of coach Steve Donahue's tenure. He won a total of 12 games in his first two seasons at Cornell and had losing records his first six seasons.

Cornell's faith and patience in Donahue was rewarded.

``We really bought into his concepts and his ideas,'' Wittman said. ``We've been extremely successful with that. He's got a great ability to not only be a great X's and O's coach, but he knows how to relate to players and when to get on certain guys and demand certain things.''

Donahue refused to discuss the possibility of moving on to a bigger job next season during a teleconference that was cut short because of a prank caller.

``I've got eight seniors that this is the time of their lives and I want to do whatever I can to advance in this tournament,'' he said.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 07:45 PM

Midwest Region Semifinals

The Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri is the locale for the Midwest Region semifinals on Friday night. Things get kicked off with Ohio State taking on Tennessee in a rematch of the 2007 South semis. After that game goes final, Northern Iowa will look to shove its foot back into the glass slipper when they face Michigan State in the nightcap.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants initially opened the Buckeyes up as 4 ½-point favorites with a total of 135. Most betting shops have adhered to that same spread, but the total has shrunk slightly to 134. For those bettors wanting to back Tennessee (27-8 straight up, 13-16-1 against the spread), they’ll get a plus-175 return (risk $100 to $175) on the outright win.

Ohio State (29-7 SU, 17-14 ATS) comes into its second Sweet Sixteen berth in four years after dumping the 15th-seeded Gauchos in the first round and sending the 10th-seeded Yellow Jackets packing.

The Bucks failed to cover as 17 ½-point faves in their 68-51 win over Cal-Santa Barbara, but were never in danger of falling in this tilt. Evan Turner was tossing up cinder blocks in that opener with nine points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field. John Diebler was there to pick up the slack with 23 points as he went 7-of-12 from beyond the arc.

OSU needs Turner and Diebler to put up strong numbers every time out because things get pretty thin for the team outside of the starting five. To give you an idea of how little depth Thad Matta’s squad has, just consider the playing time against Georgia Tech. Turner, Diebler and William Buford all played 40 minutes. Dallas Lauderdale put in 31 minutes of work, while David Lighty was on the floor for 36 minutes. In the first two rounds of this tourney, Ohio State’s starters played in 312 of a possible 320 minutes of action.

The Volunteers reached the regional semifinals after surviving a scare against 11th-seed San Diego State, then pushing 14th-seed Ohio back to a curb somewhere in Athens. Bruce Pearl’s crew is playing strong at just the right time, going 7-1 SU and 4-3-1 ATS in its last eight contests.

Tennessee came awfully close to not even being in this spot after holding onto a 62-59 over the Aztecs. Wayne Chism made two clutch free throws in the final eight seconds of the game to create the final margin of victory; he wound up with nine points altogether against SDSU. J.P. Prince paced the Vols with 15 points and six boards in the victory.

The Vols didn’t have any issues in running away late against Ohio in an 83-68 triumph as 8 ½-point faves last Saturday. Prince came up big once again with 18 point and four rebounds against the Bobcats.

Tennessee has been listed as an underdog nine times this season, going 4-5 SU and 4-4-1 ATS. In the last six spots, they are 2-4 SU and ATS.

Ohio State is 10-1 SU and 8-3 ATS when tabbed as a single-digit “chalk” this year. The ‘over’ has gone 7-4 in those spots as well.

These two teams met in the 2007 South Region semifinals with OSU as a 4 ½-point favorite. Yet the Bucks looked nothing like a team worthy of making a run to the championship game after going down 20 points. Ohio State found a way to fight back and win 85-85 on the strength of a Greg Oden block with 0.2 seconds left.

The Vols did exact some revenge the following season with a 74-69 win in Knoxville, but Ohio State covered as a 11 ½-point road pup.

All told, the Buckeyes are 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS in their last three showdowns with UT. The ‘under’ has gone 2-1 in those contests as well.

You’ll see this game tip-off on CBS at 7:10 p.m. EDT.

About 30 minutes after the first game goes final, Northern Iowa (30-4 SU, 22-10-1 ATS) will look to continue its Cinderella run against the Spartans.

There is no discounting how good the Panthers are after looking at their road to the Sweet Sixteen. They opened up with a white-knuckle 69-66 win over UNLV in the first round as one-point favorites. This game appeared to be heading to an extra session with a 66-66 score until Ali Farokhmanesh drilled a three-point jumper with 4.2 seconds left.

Farokhmanesh wasn’t satisfied by showing he had the stones to drop the Rebs. Oh no, he was going to cement his flair for the clutch shot against No. 1 overall seed Kansas. UNI held a comfortable lead for much of the game…that was until the Jayhawks pulled within one at 63-62. The Panthers’ senior guard nailed a three-pointer with 35 seconds on the clock to essentially put the game out of reach. KU made a bucket late, but the UNI walked away with a 69-67 upset as an 11 ½-point underdog. And those gamblers that had the guts to take Ben Jacobson’s club to win outright were rewarded with a plus-700 return (risk $100 to win $700).

Farokhmanesh led Northern Iowa scorers with 16 points, while Jordan Eglseder popped in 14 points with five boards.

Michigan State (26-8 SU, 13-20 ATS) has had to work for this spot in the regional semifinals. The Spartans survived a thriller against 12th-seed New Mexico State 70-67, but failed to cover as 13-point faves. And it didn’t get any easier against for MSU against the No. 4 Terrapins as they won 85-83 as a 1 ½-point pup on Korie Lucious’ three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Spartans’ win over Maryland could be considered one of Tom Izzo’s finer coaching effort considering they were without Kalin Lucas for the final 22 minutes of the game. At first it didn’t look like Lucas’ absence would matter as Michigan State pulled out to a 16-point lead in the second half. But the Terps weren’t going away quietly with Greivis Vasquez scoring 10 points in the final two-minutes of the game. Luckily for the kids from East Lansing that Lucious was able to hit his game-winner from the top of the key.

We’re going to get see if Izzo can paint another masterpiece this weekend as Lucas is out for the tournament with a ruptured left Achilles’ tendon. That means Lucious will be getting the lion’s share of playing time in his absence. While the sophomore can make a clutch shot, his ball-handling and leadership skills are nowhere near what we’ve seen with Lucas over the past three years.

The Spartans have been nothing more than a coin flip this season as single-digit faves, evidenced by a 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS. In the last five instances under this situation, Michigan State has gone 1-4 SU and ATS. The ‘over’ is 4-1 in the last five matches.

Northern Iowa have posted a great 6-1 SU and ATS record when listed as an underdog this season with the ‘under’ going 5-1.

The Panthers also have a pristine 4-0 SU and ATS mark when facing teams from the power conference this season. The ’under’ was 2-1 in those games.

UNI has seen the ‘under’ go 17-6 for the entire season, but the ‘over’ has hit in three straight games.

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 07:47 PM

East Region Semifinals

After this, all that’s left is kids and memories so we want this to last as long as possible.” -- Cornell senior point guard Louis Dale

The East Region semifinals will take place Thursday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. In the lid-lifter, West Virginia will square off against Washington, followed by Cornell vs. Kentucky.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the Mountaineers as 3 ½-point favorites with a total of 140. As of early Wednesday morning, most betting shops had Bob Huggins’ team favored by four or 4 1/2 with the total at 142. Bettors can back the Huskies to win outright for a plus-180 return (risk $100 to win $180).

West Virginia (29-6 straight up, 15-19 against the spread) advanced to the Sweet 16 by sending home 15th-seeded Morgan St. and 10th-seeded Missouri. The ‘Neers got off to an inauspicious start in their first-round game against the Bears, trailing by a 10-0 count out of the gate. Nevertheless, they recovered to cruise to a 77-50 win as 17-point favorites.

Kevin Jones scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Devin Ebanks posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards.

Next, WVU dropped Missouri 68-59 to take the cash as a six-point ‘chalk.’ Da’Sean Butler erupted for 28 points, while Butler and Jones went for 14 and 13 points, respectively, against the Tigers.

During Tuesday’s practice, WVU starting point guard Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant broke his foot. The sophomore's loss is big, but not a complete deal-breaker in my opinion. The Mountaineers will turn to junior guard Joe Mazzulla, who plays an excellent floor game and has loads of experience. However, due to a shoulder injury that has bothered him throughout the last two seasons, Mazzulla’s perimeter shooting has been rendered completely ineffective.

In fact, he hasn’t hit a 3-pointer all year, missing all five attempts. Mazzulla’s free-throw percentage has dipped to 55%. Bryant, who attended St. Raymond’s High School in the Bronx, was second on the team in 3-pointers made and free throws made.

Washington (26-9 SU, 16-18 ATS) has caught fire at the right time, winning nine straight games while compiling an 8-1 spread record. The Huskies beat Marquette in one of the best games of the tournament so far, rallying for an 80-78 win on Quincy Pondexter’s game-winning bucket with 1.7 seconds remaining. They cashed tickets as one-point underdogs in the opening-round win over the Golden Eagles.

Lorenzo Romar’s squad was dominant in the second round, trouncing New Mexico by an 82-64 count as a two-point favorite. Pondexter scored a team-high 18 points, while Isaiah Thomas had 15 points and seven assists.

Washington is 2-4 both SU and ATS in six underdog spots. Meanwhile, WVU owns an 8-10 ATS ledger in 18 games as a single-digit favorite.

The ‘under’ has cashed in six consecutive games for West Va, improving to 18-14 overall. The ‘over’ is 16-14 overall for the Huskies.

This game will come off the board at 7:25 p.m. Eastern.

As we move our conversation to Cornell-Kentucky, let’s get a few things straight right off the bat. For starters, let’s be crystal clear that Cornell’s presence in the Sweet 16 is no joke and, to loyal readers of this space, no surprise whatsoever. We’ve been hyping this senior-laded club since it spanked Alabama in Tuscaloosa in its season opener.

Steve Donahue’s squad showed remarkable offensive efficiency against two of the best defenses in the nation last weekend. The Big Red stroked fifth-seeded Temple 78-65 as a three-point underdog, hooking up money-line backers with a plus-140 payout at tip time (the money-line play was as generous as plus-170 earlier in the week).

Louis Dale had 21 points and seven assists against the Owls, while Ryan Wittman had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 on attempts from 3-point range. Jeff Foote, the senior 7-foot center, had 16 points and seven rebounds.

After the win over Temple, some thought Cornell (29-4 SU, 18-10 ATS) would be like Vermont in 2005 or Princeton in 1996 and 1998. In other words, it was a nice story but it was going no further.

Wrong!

Cornell jumped all over fourth-seeded Wisconsin early and often, taking a 72-43 lead with 10:53 left after Dale completed a three-point play the hard way. The Badgers, notorious for tenacious defense during Bo Ryan’s tenure that’s produced NCAA Tournament appearances every season, had allowed more than 72 points in just two games this year.

They surrendered 74 points to Gonzaga in Hawaii way back in November. Also, Wisconsin-Green Bay put up 88 on Wisky in an overtime game (just 75 at the end of regulation). And Cornell had produced a 72-spot in only 29 minutes against Ryan’s bunch that had wins over Duke, Michigan St., Purdue, Ohio St., Maryland and Marquette.

After icing the clock down the stretch against Wisconsin, Cornell cruised to an 87-69 victory as a 4 ½-point underdog. Most gamblers taking the Big Red to win outright were rewarded with a plus-160 payout (paid $160 on $100 wagers).

Dale was spectacular once again, finishing with a game-high 26 points. Wittman had 24 points on 10-of-15 shoting, scoring on an array of catch-and-shoot jumpers (just like his Daddy coming off screens and getting passes from Doc Rivers for my Hawks back in the ‘80s!). Wittman also has an excellent knack for creating space for himself off the dribble and taking a fadeaway mid-range jumper.

Foote had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists against the Badgers. Foote certainly doesn’t have the bulk of Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins, but he’s got excellent footwork around the basket, a nice touch on his shot and he’s an outstanding passer for a big man (sort of reminding me of Florida’s Dwayne Schintzius circa late ‘80s).

Like Cornell, Kentucky (34-2 SU, 19-15 ATS) was dominant last weekend. The ‘Cats took East Tennessee St. behind the woodshed from the get-go, capturing a 101-70 win to easily hook up their backers who were laying 18 ½ points. Eric Bledsoe had a game-high 29 points, draining 8-of-9 shots from beyond the arc. Patrick Patterson had 22 points, while John Wall finished with 17 points and 11 assists.

In its second-round game against Wake Forest, UK delivered another shellacking, this time in the form of a 90-60 clubbing as a 9 ½-point favorite. Darius Miller went for 20 points and nine rebounds, while Cousins scored 19 points and pulled down eight boards. Wall added 14 points and seven assists, although we should note his five turnovers.

Cornell has been listed as an underdog seven times, posting a 5-2 SU record and a 6-1 ATS mark. Meanwhile, John Calipari’s team owns a 10-5 spread record in 15 games as a single-digit favorite.

The ‘over’ has hit in three straight UK games to improve to 18-15 overall.

The ‘under’ is 12-10 overall for Cornell, although the ‘over’ prevailed in both of its games last weekend.

This game will be played 30 minutes after WVU-Washington concludes. You can be assured that at least 12-15 thousand UK fans will find their way into the Carrier Dome. Likewise, a strong Cornell contingent will be on hand, as the school’s campus in Ithaca is just a one-hour drive to Syracuse. Also, it’s a given that every non-UK fan in attendance will be rooting for the Big Red.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--For bettors thinking Kentucky’s athleticism will be like nothing Cornell has seen, think again. The Big Red played at Kansas this year and had a one-point lead in the final minute before Sherron Collins made several big plays to lead KU to a 71-66 win. Donahue’s team has also played at the Carrier Dome this year, losing 88-73 to the Orange in a game the ‘Cuse led 42-36 at halftime.

--West Va. and Washington shared three common foes this season – Marquette, Georgetown and Texas A&M. The ‘Neers beat the Hoyas twice and also won against the Golden Eagles and Aggies. The Huskies beat Marquette and Texas A&M, but they lost to Georgetown by a 74-66 count.

--I love it when ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb talks about players being ineffective offensively. Gottlieb, a point guard, had a career free-throw percentage of 45.7%, which is obviously pathetic. When I was eight years old, I could hit 60-percent from the charity stripe. In a four-year collegiate career at Notre Dame (one year) and Oklahoma St. (three years), he shot 36.8% from the floor and 24% from 3-point land. Just the facts, folks, just the facts.

--Since I got in a St. Raymond’s High School reference earlier in regards to Truck Bryant, let’s get a shout-out in to my favorite all-time point guard from St. Raymond’s, former UTEP point guard Eddie Rivera, who absolutely dominated the now-defunct Governor’s Cup Tournament in Tallahassee at the Leon Co. Civic Center (where FSU plays) during the 1989 Christmas Holidays. Other big-time players that once played in the Governor’s Cup include Andrew Moten (Florida), Dwayne Schintzius (Florida), Toney Mack (Georgia), Robert Horry (Alabama), Avery Curry (FSU and Idaho) and Darryl Prue (West Va.).

**StarDust Bum** · 03-24-2010, 07:48 PM

Total Talk - Sweet Sixteen

Last year’s NCAA Tournament saw 14 of the top 16 seeds advance to the Sweet Sixteen, as the top tier programs in the country battled back and forth on the hardwood. This year, only seven of the top 16 seeds will be playing this weekend. Cinderella is definitely alive this March in the brackets and at the betting counter. Even though the favorites produced a 31-17 straight up record over the opening weekend, the underdogs responded with a 25-22-1 mark against the spread.
Looking at the two records, you can see that there were eight instances when the favorite won but did not cover. However, seven of those occurrences happened in the first round on Thursday and Friday. Butler’s 54-52 win over Murray State on Saturday afternoon watched the Bulldogs advance over the Racers but they failed to cover the 4 ½-point spread.

Will we see teams winning again this weekend, yet not covering? If you feel the lines are too tight, then perhaps you should check out the totals, which saw the ‘under’ go 25-23 in the first two rounds.

The most intriguing matchup in the Sweet 16 comes out of the East Regional, where No. 1 Kentucky will battle No. 12 Cornell from the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Some pundits believed the Big Red were valued too low and they were right, as the team knocked off higher seeds No. 5 Temple (78-65) and No. 4 Wisconsin (87-69) to advance past the opening weekend. The ‘over’ easily cashed in both of Cornell’s victories, with the closing totals listed at 122 and 126 respectively. Can the Big Red get off against Kentucky on Thursday?

VegasInsider.com handicapper Brian Edwards, who is on a 9-0 run with his tournament picks, believes that Cornell and Kentucky will be a high scoring affair.

He said, “I’m real high on this Cornell-Kentucky game to go ‘over.’ I was fortunate to get it at 143 early Sunday night, but I still like it at 147 (where it’s hovering now). The Big Red’s offense was ridiculously efficient in blowout wins over Temple and Wisconsin. And seriously, when you think defense, are their two more prominent programs that come to mind moreso than Wisconsin and Temple? Cornell had 72 points on Wisconsin with 10:53 left in the second half before it started icing the clock. Guess how many times the Badgers gave up more than 72 points in 40 minutes, much less 29, in the rest of their games? Twice in 33 games! Wisconsin-Green Bay had 88 points on Wisconsin in a game that went to OT (75 in regulation) and Gonzaga put up 74 on the Badgers.”

“Cornell scored 78 against Temple, which gave up more than 74 just once this season (88 to Kansas). As for Kentucky, I backed the ‘over’ for a winner in its 90-60 win over Wake Forest on Saturday night. The ‘Cats hung 101 on ETSU in the first round. I made this number 151 and feel real strong about the ‘over’ on this matchup”

Surprisingly, the total on this game isn’t the highest on the board. That honor goes to the other late-night battle on Thursday between Xavier and Kansas State. The ‘over/under’ is hovering between 153 and 154 points, and this will be the second meeting (see below) between the two schools this year. Keep in mind that there were five games in the opening round that had a closing total of 150 or more, and the ‘under’ produced a 4-1 (80%) record.

Not all of the games this weekend are expected to be shootouts. Two of the potential grinders occur in the late-night session on Friday, when Northern Iowa meets Michigan State and Duke squares off against Purdue. The total on the Panthers-Spartans matchup is sitting between 120 and 121, while the Blue Devils-Boilermakers matchup is hovering between 128 and 129.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke have been known as a high-scoring team that pushes the pace and shoots the long ball in prior seasons. While this team can run, it’s been said by Coach K that this group is one of his better defensive squads. The Dookies are deceivingly big and they pound the glass with four players listed at six-foot-eight or taller, including seven-foot center Brian Zoubek.

“The ’under’ is on an 11-3 run in Duke’s last 14 games, 6-2 for Purdue in its last eight games (all w/o Hummel, as he was hurt early in that eighth game at Minny). Obviously, the Boilers are not as effective offensively without a 15 PPG scorer in Hummel. Blue Devils not necessarily a grinder team but they are so often up by double-digit margins at the 8:00 mark of games and at that point, Coach K likes to put the ball in the freezer. This is Duke’s third-lowest total of the year. In both games with totals in the 120s, the ‘under’ prevailed”, explained Edwards.

Even though the pace and style of the game might be there with these low totals, keep in mind that 12 out of the first 48 games in the opening weekend had a number of 130 or less and the ‘over/under’ went 6-6 in those affairs.

Let’s take a quick look at the eight games in the Sweet Sixteen.

Thursday, Mar. 25

Butler vs. Syracuse (138): Butler lives and dies by the 3-ball, along with its sound defense. They put up 20 bombs in the first two rounds but Syracuse’s 2-3 zone only gave up five treys to Vermont and Gonzaga, two teams with just as much ability from the outside than the Bulldogs. The Orange offense tends to go through motions at times, but they still posted 87 and 79 in their first two tournament games. Butler is on an 8-2 ‘under’ run, but Syracuse has watched the ‘over’ go 6-1-1 in its last eight.

Washington vs. West Virginia (142): This battle is another example of two different styles going head-to-head. The Huskies like to get out and run, evidenced by their 80 and 82-point performances in the first two rounds while West Virginia likes to settle it down and lives in the paint and on the glass. The Mountaineers have given up 60 points or less in five straight games, which has helped the ‘under’ cash in all five.

Xavier vs. Kansas State (153): Out of the eight games slated in the Sweet 16, this is the only matchup where the teams met in this year’s regular season. Kansas State blasted Xavier 71-56 on Dec. 8 from Manhattan in a game that could be summed up as ugly. The Wildcats missed 17 free throws (23-of-40) and was just 4-of-17 (24%) from 3-point land. Even more disappointing was Xavier, who was worse from the field (29%) and it missed a dozen free throws too. A lot has changed since the Musketeers were held to their lowest point total of the season.

Cornell vs. Kentucky (147): Cornell and Kentucky both saw the ‘over’ go 2-0 in their opening round games, which was helped with some hot 3-point shooting from the Big Red (17) and Wildcats (22). If these teams hit their outside shots and get to the free-throw line again, this one could cash easily. Depth could be a factor for Cornell, which would make you believe head coach Steve Donahue will slow it down. One thing that isn’t being talked about much on this matchup is Kentucky’s defense, which is holding teams to 37.9% shooting. ETSU posted 71 points in a game that was over at half, while Wake Forest managed only 60 points.

Friday, Mar. 26

Tennessee vs. Ohio State (134): The Volunteers have shown the ability to play fast or slow, but Bruce Pearl’s team stresses defense. UT held San Diego State and Ohio to a combined 38.2 percent from the field and were fortunate to only give up 13 shots from 3-point land. The Buckeyes have more playmakers on offense than the Aztecs and Bobcats, including Big 10 Player of the Year Evan Turner (20 PPG). Turner has been aided by sharpshooter Jon Diebler (10 treys) all season long and that could be the difference here. The Buckeyes are on a 4-1 ‘over’ run heading into this game.

St. Mary’s vs. Baylor (142.5): The Gaels and Bears both have the ability to run ‘n gun, evidenced by their total marks on the season. St. Mary’s has watched the ‘over’ go 16-13, while Baylor has seen the ‘over’ go 18-9 and that includes a current 11-3 run. The total on this game opened at 145 and has since dipped to 142 ½ at a lot of betting shops in Las Vegas. Everybody knows that Baylor will push the tempo and it is playing close to home in Houston, but St. Mary’s has posted 80 and 75 points in their first two games. The mid-week line drop tells you that somebody hammered the ‘under’ hard, but the reasoning isn’t very clear considering the styles here.

Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State (121): Even though the Panthers like to slow it down, both of their first two games went ‘over’ the number. The offense hit nine 3-pointers in both wins over UNLV (69-66) and Kansas (69-67), plus their defense couldn’t keep up with their season average of 55 PPG, which was ranked second nationally. Michigan State has started hot in its first two wins, putting up 40 and 48 in the first halves against New Mexico State and Maryland respectively. Both teams have shot well, but what happens when the buckets don’t drop?

Purdue vs. Duke (129.5): As Brian Edwards pointed out above, Duke has been a serious ‘under’ team and Purdue’s offense is limited these days. If you want to beat the Blue Devils, you better shoot a serious percentage from the field and get to the free throw line. We know the Boilers haven’t been lighting up the scoreboard lately and what’s more disturbing is that they only earned 25 trips to the free throw line in their last two games, six coming in the win over Texas A&M. And as good as Duke’s 3-point shooting has been this year, the team has only gone 9-of-30 (30%) in the tournament.

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The Bum's Monday's All You Need to Know !

The Bum's Monday's All You Need to Know !

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