NCAA Football FanHouse

ESPN's Jay Bilas and Dan Le Batard Get Into It Over Race in Basketball

Sportz Assassin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:18:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

Hat tip to Awful Announcing on this one.

ESPN's Jay Bilas was a guest on Dan Le Batard's radio show and they got into it. The main topic of discussion was race in basketball (mainly at Tyler Hansbrough's pro prospects).

It didn't seem to be what Bilas wanted to discuss. I mean, it is only the national championship coming up and I'm sure that Jay was prepared to talk about that. Le Batard instead hit him up with weird questions about scenarios if Hansbrough was black or Michael Beasley was white.

After a heated exchange, Bilas got off this classic blast -- "Take offense ... it's stupid"

ESPN's Jay Bilas and Dan Le Batard Get Into It Over Race in Basketball originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

David Letterman's Top 10 Signs You're Watching Too Much NCAA Basketball

Michael David Smith — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:55:00 EST

Filed under: Duke Basketball, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Video, TV and Movies

David Letterman isn't exactly known as a company man, but he's happy to promote CBS's coverage of the NCAA Tournament with a top 10 list:

The great thing about Letterman is that he can take something as obvious and seemingly overdone as the spelling of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's name and make it into a funny punch line.

David Letterman's Top 10 Signs You're Watching Too Much NCAA Basketball originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

David Letterman Thinks Butler Deserves Another Chance Against Tennessee

Michael David Smith — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:48:00 EST

Filed under: Tennessee Basketball, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, NCAA Basketball Video, Butler Basketball, TV and Movies

David Letterman was born in Indianapolis, the home of Butler University, and that may be why he's convinced that Butler deserves another chance at playing Tennessee, the team it lost to in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday:

"The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Butler Bulldogs, 76-71," Letterman said. "Apparently, there still is some time on the clock, so they're going to run the overtime over again. They found that they had let the clock run during a timeout mistakenly, and they think there's a good chance that Butler will be back in the Tournament."

I'm not sure it works that way, but I do like the way Letterman has maintained loyalty to his Indiana teams even after working in New York for three decades. He's no fair-weather fan.

David Letterman Thinks Butler Deserves Another Chance Against Tennessee originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Dick Vitale Advocates Eliminating Fouling Out

Michael David Smith — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:43:00 EST

Filed under: Georgetown Basketball, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN, Davidson Basketball

Davidson eliminated Georgetown from the NCAA Tournament yesterday in large part because Georgetown center Roy Hibbert fouled out after playing just 16 minutes.

On ESPN Radio this morning, Dick Vitale made an impassioned plea for a rule change that would keep that from happening: Vitale wants the NCAA to get rid of the rule that says a player is disqualified from the game after five fouls. Here's what Vitale said:

"I really think basketball, we're the only sport where a player is penalized, and put out of a game with a whistle. And you take your star player who you prepare all week with, you work, you develop your offensive, defensive schemes, all of a sudden, boom boom, two fouls, he's out of the game.

"Hibbert played 16 minutes in the game. Vital player for Georgetown. I'd like to see a rule where a player can stay on the floor, at the coach's discretion, and every foul after the fifth is two shots and the basketball if he fouls, you get two shots and the basketball. ... Think about it. Basketball is the only sport where a guy is disqualified because a guy blowing a whistle controls the whole scenario."

I dunno. The rule that says players foul out after five (or six) fouls is so ingrained in the way I think of the game of basketball that I feel like there must be some good reason not to get rid of it. I wouldn't mind seeing some teams experiment with this rule in early-season games, but I'm not convinced that we want to eliminate something as fundamental as fouling out.

Dick Vitale Advocates Eliminating Fouling Out originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

CBS Criticized for Britney Spears 'How I Met Your Mother' Commercials in March Madness

Michael David Smith — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:55:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, NCAA Basketball Video, TV and Movies

In case you didn't see it 10,000 times while watching the NCAA Tournament the last four days, here's the commercial CBS has been showing during the games to advertise the fact that Britney Spears will be a guest star on How I Met Your Mother:

Is that OK with you? It's not OK with Michael McCarthy of USA Today, who writes:

Worst promo. Who's the genius behind the lame promo during CBS's coverage of the tournament Saturday and Sunday about Britney Spears' appearance on How I Met Your Mother? In the clip from tonight's episode, Spears' flirty receptionist asks Neil Patrick Harris' character if they can have sex, then go shopping. Cute. We know Hollywood loves to outrage the squares in Middle America. But there are kids watching these games.

Although I disagree with McCarthy's apparent opinion that "Hollywood" represents what's immoral about our country while "Middle America" represents what's right, I've long thought that the TV networks show inappropriate content during commercials of sporting events. The best option for parents is to change the channel when the commercials come on.

CBS Criticized for Britney Spears 'How I Met Your Mother' Commercials in March Madness originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

No One Has a Perfect ESPN.com Bracket, but 51 People Got 30 of 32

Michael David Smith — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:14:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Fans, NCAA Basketball Gambling, ESPN

Does your bracket look good after two days? I'm feeling pretty good after getting 26 out of 32 right in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and heading into the second round with 14 of my Sweet 16 still remaining, with only Clemson and UConn knocked out. I'm kicking myself for changing my mind about St. Mary's-Miami, but all things considered I like where I stand.

But there are 51 people I'm in awe of: Those are the 51 who sit at the top of the more than 3 million entries on the ESPN.com leaderboard, the 51 people who got 30 out of 32 picks correct in their brackets. Of those 51, seven still have all 16 of their Sweet 16 alive. That's impressive.

But it's also a reminder of how ridiculous it is when you sometimes see those contests that promise multimillion-dollar prizes for anyone with a perfect bracket. A perfect bracket is not going to happen. If more than 3 million people enter at ESPN.com and no one can even get 31 out of 32 right in the first round, we can forget anyone going 63-for-63 in the Tournament as a whole.

Incidentally, of the seven people who got 30 picks right in the first round and still have their whole Sweet 16 remaining, two picked Texas to win it all, two picked Memphis to win it all, one picked Georgetown, one picked UCLA, and one picked, of all teams, Villanova.

No One Has a Perfect ESPN.com Bracket, but 51 People Got 30 of 32 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:14:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Dick Vitale Wants Bob Knight at Indiana; Knight Wants Vitale to Hush Up

Sportz Assassin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:50:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

Maybe it is best that Dick Vitale wasn't in the studio during the ESPN's bracket shows.

In the clip above, Vitale throws out what many people have been whispering: Bobby Knight to Indiana.

The problem is that when Vitale mentioned it, Knight (who is working for ESPN) was obviously ... something. Pissed? Embarrassed? Ticked? Emotional? Nervous? Shaken? Maybe all of them.

As Vitale kept on rambling, Knight just sat there -- quiet ... with a red face and glazed eyes

I do give Dickie V some credit for kicking that elephant in the room right in the backside. You knew that Reece Davis, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas weren't going to touch that one.

Dick Vitale Wants Bob Knight at Indiana; Knight Wants Vitale to Hush Up originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Shooting Down Bobby Knight's 128-Team Tournament Proposition

Sportz Assassin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:26:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

On ESPN's coverage of the release of the NCAA tournament's bracket, Bobby Knight made a proposal that the tournament should be extended to 128 teams so that we could weed out the pretenders and then have a sure-fire best 64 team tournament the next week.

Look, I'm one of those people that thinks the tournament should be expanded (to about 96 teams) but I have to disagree with Coach Knight's thinking. He said that as they were talking about teams that were close to getting into the dance but didn't. He was arguing that if there were no automatic bids then the best 64 teams could be selected and there would be limited debate.

I've said this from Day 1 and ESPN's Dick Vitale mentioned it: If there were 128 teams in the tournament, then #129 would complain about not getting in. If there were 300 teams in the tournament, that the 301st team would bitch about not making it. Throw any number out there and there will be someone left out and complaining. It's the way the world works.

I mean, this tournament has expanded before and we still get this argument.

To me, I don't see where that argument has any merit. Look, in most years there are only 8 to 10 teams that can really win the title. Some years there is that break-through at-large squad that makes a mark (Villanova, Arizona). But is the public really clammoring to include Arizona State, Virginia Tech or Ohio State to be in this field because they think they can win the championship? No. They just believe they are better than a few other teams that did get in.

As for dumping the automatic berths -- that ain't happenin'. The only reason anyone cares about these smaller conferences is because of those berths. If it wasn't for Temple, Georgia and San Diego winning these automatic berths, those bubble teams would've gotten in. Would VCU has been included in last year's tournament if they didn't win the CAA tournament? Probably not. Yet those VCU Rams would go on and beat Duke.

I just don't understand the crying and moaning over these bubble teams. If you want to get into the dance then win your games. Virginia Tech can't hang their hat on almost beating North Carolina. You gotta finish.

So Knight's plan isn't solid. We've never had a #16 seed beat a #1 seed ... so we don't need to see #32 seeds attempting to do it. We also don't need to see those bubble teams go at it in the NCAA tournament. We have that in the N.I.T. and nobody watches that.

Shooting Down Bobby Knight's 128-Team Tournament Proposition originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bobby Knight Hates Conference Tournaments

Sportz Assassin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:33:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

Some new guy on ESPN named Bobby Knight was on SportsCenter chatting about the conference tournaments.

Knight's point is that if he knew his team was a clear cut lock to enter the NCAA tournament, he would rest his starters and play his bench guys more. He wants his team fresh for the NCAAs ... especially the second round.

Of course, he did turn it around when talking about his time at Texas Tech. Then, he argued that his team never was a lock for the NCAAs and used the Big XII tournament to get his team that bid.

To me, conference tournaments mean different things to different schools. There is pride from winning it, no doubt, and you'd like that have a hot team enter the dance. However, it isn't worth getting the small prize in spite of the bigger one. To me (well, in the major conferences), winning the regular season title is more important that a four day event. Take more pride in that. We can name last year's champ and most of the Final Four. Not many can reel off all the conference tournament champions.

However, it is a tool for those bubble teams to make a final statement on their candidacy.

Bobby Knight Hates Conference Tournaments originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg: 'You Think Joe Lunardi Knows?'

Michael David Smith — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:59:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN, Virginia Tech Basketball

I previously mentioned that ESPN's Joe Lunardi becomes an important person in the sports landscape around this time every year. One person who clearly doesn't think too highly of Lunardi's opinions is Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg, who appeared on an ESPN First Take interview shortly after Lunardi expressed doubt that Virginia Tech will make it to the Big Dance:

When asked for his reaction to Lunardi saying his team is out, Greenberg said, "Who cares? You think Joe Lunardi knows the exact field? You think that his word is bond and they're sitting there in Indianapolis going, 'Virginia Tech, they're out now'?"

Greenberg is right, of course, that the Selection Committee doesn't care what Lunardi thinks. But that's not the point. The point is that Lunardi is good at predicting what the Selection Committee will decide, and Lunardi is certainly right that Virginia Tech, with an RPI of 57, is going to need a big conference tournament run to get to the NCAA Tournament.

Greenberg continued, "You're telling me a one-point, at the buzzer loss, to Clemson at Clemson on senior night, and all of a sudden we're a bad team and we don't even deserve consideration? Is that logical?"

But no one is saying the Hokies' 70-69 loss to Clemson is the only reason that they won't be in the Tournament. It's just one of 12 reasons, and looking at the totality of the Hokies' 18-12 season, they don't look like a Tournament team.

Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg: 'You Think Joe Lunardi Knows?' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

College Football's Big Boys Got It Made

Brian Grummell — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:17:00 EST

Filed under: ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10, SEC, BCS, Bowl Games, March Madness

Relative to college basketball's big boys, that is.

Earlier this week my colleague Charles Rich wrote about how NCAA basketball tournament monies are distributed to the various teams. It's mildly complicated, but let's just say performance is a big part of the distribution. From the Birmingham News:

A conference's annual share is based on the number of teams in the tournament and how they fare over a six-year period. The SEC barely received five bids this season, but turned them into 14 units - the same number as the ACC produced with seven bids.

One unit is awarded for each tournament game in which a team participates, except the championship game. Each unit is worth $176,864 for this year's distribution, which covers the tournaments from 2001 to 2006.

In college football, the big-dollar BCS revenues are all but guaranteed to the BCS conferences.

The ACC could field a disastrous conference champion, but that champ's revenue is guaranteed for so much as making a BCS game. Essentially, that pesky performance thing doesn't matter, just making it to the game secures a prize. Obviously more earnings can be achieved if a conference can sneak in a second team, but the big $10 million plus paycheck is assured before the season commences.

This isn't remarkable news but I offer it up more as a contrast of the two revenue distribution systems at work for the biggest moneymaking sports in college athletics. Is one better and the other worse? Is either method fair? We report, you decide.

College Football's Big Boys Got It Made originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments