Hatching something from that Egg

I get no joy out of saying that Carolina laid an egg in their Final Four game against Kansas. I know the one-and-done nature of the tournament is one of the things that makes it great, but man, with this final four, am I the only one that wishes every matchup was actually a best of 3?

I'm sure most people in North Carolina remember NC State's game at the Dean Dome this year, scoring something like 12 points in the first 10 hours of the first half. That is what it felt like for Carolina fans last night. 40-12 is going to stick in my mind for a long time. I know you don't come back on a team like Kansas from 28 down, but damn if they didn't almost do it. But as happens so many times, they just couldn't ever pull even, and Kansas didn't completely fold, although they came close.

Final Four's are great for most schools, or at every school for some years, but for this particular team you can only feel disappointment at the moment. I didn't watch with a clear enough head to understand why things unfolded as they did. Maybe the non-stop media attention took a toll on Hansbrough. Ty Lawson was nowhere near Ty of old. Danny Green isn't quite superman.

Now, like at many schools, the Draft Watch starts. If all these guys do come back, maybe Roy can find a way to hatch and even better team out of the egg they laid last night.


Roy's press conference is Here.

It Was 25 Years Ago Today...

Carolina 63, Georgetown 62

Man... I'm getting old.

Michael Wilbon had a nice story on the game that points out how many superstars were on both teams.

The Tar Heels, remember, featured Worthy, who would be the No. 1 overall
pick in the 1982 draft, Jordan (No. 3 in 1984), Sam Perkins (No. 4 in 1984) and
point guard Jimmy Black. Georgetown featured Patrick Ewing (No. 1 overall pick
in 1985), Eric "Sleepy" Floyd (No. 13 in 1982) and Bill Martin. Both head
coaches, Smith and Thompson, have coached the U.S. Olympic team and are in the
Basketball Hall of Fame. Worthy, Jordan and Ewing were voted among the 50
greatest NBA players ever. more...

These teams would kill any of this year's Final Four teams.

Copies of the Jordan poster are available at Sportsposterwarehouse.com.

Zebra Sightings...

As promised, we've been keeping track of not only ACC officials, but every official working the field of 64. Keep in mind that officials work in multiple conferences. We have listed the conference tournament that officials worked. In many cases, officials worked multiple conferences tournaments (What was that Bob Knight was saying?) When that has occurred, we tried to indicate the highest level conference tournament worked. Crews who worked conference championship games have * listed by the conference name.

In the past, the officials who have graded the highest have advanced in the tournament. In general, if an official did not work a second round game, he is not going to be around for the regionals.

I think Mike Wood, Les Jones and John Cahill can make other plans this weekend. They were the crew that worked the Xavier-OSU game. Many feel that Greg Oden's foul at the end of the game should gave been called intentional or flagrant, giving Xavier 2 shots and the ball. As it turned out Xavier only hit one of two and OSU tied the game with a 3-pointer. In the past, if a crew missed a call that cost a team a game, that crew went home as well.

If the NCAA continues with what they have done in recent years, three crews will be assigned to each regional. Two crews will work the regional semis while a third crew will work the regional finals. The top 3 crews from the regionals will advance to the Final Four.

Official...............Conference.....1st Round.....2nd Round
Ayers, Roger...........ACC............NMS-Tx
Clinton, Bernard.......ACC............TAMUCC-Wis
Eades, Mike............ACC............Xav-BYU
Jones, Les.............ACC............CCS-OSU.......Xav-OSU
Luckie, Jamie..........ACC............TAMUCC-Wis....UNLV-Wis
Natili, Ray............ACC............GW-Van
Wood, Mike.............ACC............Stan-Lou......Xav-OSU
Hess, Karl.............ACC*...........PU-Az.........PU-Fla
Kersey, Brian..........ACC*...........MSU-MQ........BC-Gtown
Maxwell, Gary..........ACC*...........Stan-Lou......Lou-TxA&M
Stehpens, Michael......Am East........Pen-TxA&M
Carstensen, DJ.........Atlantic 10....MSU-MQ
Connolly, Fran.........Atlantic 10....NTx-Mem
Demayo, Joe............Atlantic 10....Stan-Lou
Faia, Paul.............Atlantic 10....GT-UNLV
Hughes, John...........Atlantic 10....VCU-DU........BU-UMD
Perone, Ray............Atlantic 10....NMS-Tx........Winth-Ore
Simpson, Lamar.........Atlantic 10....Ark-USC
Roberts, Mike..........Atlantic 10*...TT-BC
Scagliotta, Frank......Atlantic 10*...PU-Az
Staratore, Gene........Atlantic 10*...Albany-UVa
Clark, Jeff............Big East.......WS-UCLA.......Van-WSU
Corbet, Ed.............Big East.......GT-UNLV.......UK-KU
Donato, Bob............Big East.......NMS-Tx........USC-Tx
Greenwood, Reggie......Big East.......NTx-Mem.......Nev-Mem
Higgins, Tim...........Big East.......HC-SouIll.....VT-SouIll
O'Connell, Brian.......Big East.......ORU-WSU.......Ind-UCLA
Walton, Earl...........Big East.......LBSU-Ten
Cahill, John...........Big East*......Pen-TxA&M.....Xav-OSU
Driscoll, Pat..........Big East*......TT-BC.........MSU-UNC
Kitts, Michael.........Big East*......MSU-MQ........BC-Gtown
Scofield, Bob..........Big Sky........Nia-KU
Curry, Eric............Big Sky*.......VCU-DU
Collins, JD............Big Ten........GW-Van........Van-WSU
Hartzell, Rick.........Big Ten........Ark-USC
Janssen, Paul..........Big Ten........LBSU-Ten......UVa-UT
Rodeheffer, Sid........Big Ten........HC-SouIll
Sanzere, Mike..........Big Ten........Ark-USC.......USC-Tx
Skiles, Steve..........Big Ten........GW-Van........Van-WSU
Steed, Zelton..........Big Ten........VCU-DU........VCU-Pitt
Burr, Jim..............Big Ten*.......ORU-WSU
Gray, Donnee...........Big Ten*.......Nia-KU........UK-KU
Hillary, Ted...........Big Ten*.......Cre-Nev.......Nev-Mem
Hall. David............Big-12.........JS-Fla........PU-Fla
Moore, Terry...........Big-12.........Mia-Ore
Pollard, Gerry.........Big-12.........CCS-OSU
Randall, Rick..........Big-12.........GT-UNLV
Self, Kelly............Big-12.........WS-UCLA
Thibodeaux, Mike.......Big-12.........Ill-VT
Welmer, Steve..........Big-12.........EKU-UNC
Whitehead, Mark........Big-12.........WS-UCLA.......Ind-UCLA
Higgins, John..........Big-12*........LBSU-Ten......UVa-UT
Shaw, Curtis...........Big-12*........Xav-BYU.......Lou-TxA&M
Thornley, Scott........Big-12*........Nova-UK.......UNLV-Wis
Edsall, Duke...........C-USA..........WrS-Pitt
Husk, Hal..............C-USA..........Albany-Uva....UVa-UT
Pyatt, Steven..........C-USA..........Mia-Ore
Olson, Steve...........C-USA*.........Cre-Nev
O'Neill, Tom...........C-USA*.........Cre-Nev.......Nev-Mem
Rose, Larry............C-USA*.........Ill-VT........VT-SouIll
Wymer, Terry...........MAC*...........Xav-BYU.......Lou-TxA&M
Covington, William.....MEAC*..........Dav-MD
Gladden, Dwayne........MEAC*..........Gon-IND
Littlewood, Mike.......Mtn West.......CCS-OSU
Eggers, Michael........Pac 10.........ODU-BU
Harris, Vern...........Pac 10.........EKU-UNC.......BC-Gtown
Hicks, Bruce...........Pac 10.........EKU-UNC
McCall, Randy..........Pac 10.........Bel-Gtown.....MSU-UNC
Rastatter, Chris.......Pac 10.........Nia-KU
Reed, Michael..........Pac 10.........NTx-Mem
Scyphers, Mike.........Pac 10.........Dav-MD........BU-UMD
Vinovich, Bill.........Pac 10.........Ill-VT
Cartmell, Richard......Pac 10*........WrS-Pitt......BU-UMD
Libbey, David..........Pac 10*........Dav-MD........VCU-Pitt
Reischling, Mark.......Pac 10*........Nova-UK
Giallella, Rich........Patriot*.......Bel-Gtown
Adams, Pat.............SEC............Pen-TxA&M
Caldwell, JB...........SEC............Gon-IND
Clougherty, Tim........SEC............ORU-WSU
Eades, Tom.............SEC............Winth-ND......USC-Tx
Forte, Brian...........SEC............JS-Fla
Lindsay, Joe...........SEC............Nova-UK.......UNLV-Wis
Lopes, Tom.............SEC............Albany-Uva....VT-SouIll
Nance, Mike............SEC............HC-SouIll
Petty, Antinio.........SEC............JS-Fla
Shows, Doug............SEC............ODU-BU........VCU-Pitt
Smith, Bert............SEC............ODU-BU
Valentine, Ted.........SEC............Winth-ND......Winth-Ore
Greene, Tony...........SEC*...........Gon-IND.......Ind-UCLA
Sirmons, Doug..........SEC*...........TT-BC.........MSU-UNC
Stuart, Mike...........SEC*...........Mia-Ore.......Winth-Ore
Staffen, Bob...........WAC............TAMUCC-Wis....UK-KU
Ditty, Ken.............WCC*...........WrS-Pitt
Adams, Robert.........................Bel-Gtown
Evans, Pat............................PU-Az.........PU-Fla
Nichols, Tom..........................Winth-ND.

Decoding TicketReserve.com

I had heard a commercial for these guys last week, and James Worthy is all over the radio shows this morning giving NCAA analysis on sports radio stations in exchange for a minute to do a plug for this site. I'm sort of a junkie for cool business models, plus know a great deal about buying and selling tickets, so I had to find out more about this.

Here is their pitch to consumers. We'll look at it from the final four standpoint. You go to their site, and you can reserve the right to buy tickets to the final four, IF your team goes, for a set price. So, for example, if your team is the Xavier, you could go and pay $11 each for the right to buy upper level final four tickets at face value. So, lets say you want to buy 2 tickets, you'd pay $22, and if Xavier goes to the final four, you'd then have the right to buy 2 tickets at face value. If Xavier doesn't go to the final four, then you lost your $22.

Here is the neat thing about this, it is an options market, where the free market ends up dictating the price. Xavier probably isn't going, so the price is low. Duke is a little higher, with prices ranging from $53 upper, to $75 lower, UNC is $83 to $114. So, if you are a UNC Fan, and you really believe your team is going and you really want to be there, instead of waiting and possibly paying $1000 to scalpers, you pay $114 per ticket now, and when Carolina goes to the final for, you just pay face value for the ticket. It's clearly a gamble, but so is waiting to see and paying the premium later.

So, two brilliant things about this business model. Let's walk through a simple scenario from the companies standpoint. They somehow get 4 tickets, lower-level, to the final 4. Once the brackets are out, they know that they can make those 4 tickets available to fans of 16 different teams. For maybe those 4 tickets get assigned to the east region. So, maybe they make them available to
Eastern Kentucky, Belmont, Oral Roberts, and New Mexico State for $10.
Then the next 4 higher seeds for $20, then 5-8 for $30, and the 1 through 4 for $50 for example. You can see how those 4 tickets, that will eventually end up in the hands of fans for just one team, will generate revenue from fans from 16 teams, and that options revenue could be much more than if they had just sold the tickets on a free market.

The other thing they do is they have created a marketplace where you can buy and sell these options. So, let's say that you go in now and decide to buy rights to 2 lower level UNC tickets for $100. You can then turn-around in their system and offer that option for sale to others for $150. Maybe at this point nobody would pay that, but after the first or second round, when people get more serious about UNC making the final four, the price may go up. And of course TicketReserve takes a cut of each transaction.

Very neat idea.


Found an NPR story on them below:

Buying 'Ticket Futures' at TicketReserve.com

by Alex Chadwick

Dancing Partners Announced…

Florida (Midwest), Carolina (East), Ohio State (South) & Kansas (West) Gain #1 Seeds

The Tournament Pairings are posted at NCAASports.com.

The Selection Committee definitely sent the message that to the top teams that the conference tournaments mean something as all four top seeds won their conference tournaments... get the hint UCLA?

Another message was that strength of schedule within your conferences makes a difference if you play an unbalanced schedule. Stanford (18-12) made the field based on their 10-8 PAC 10 record, While Syracuse (22-10) was left out even though they finished 10-6 in the Big East. According to ESPN the Selection Committee felt that Syracuse played a weak conference schedule, while Stanford played a double round-robin schedule in the PAC 10. I’m not sure about the logic though, according to my calculations Syracuse’s opposition in the Big East had a .505 conference record which was the 4th toughest conference schedule. They split against Villanova and beat Marquette who are both in the Tournament. In addition to having a winning record on the road and a .500 record on the road in the Big East, they finished 6-2 in their last eight games.

Apparently Arkansas was the last team in. According to ESPN, had NC State won the ACC Tournament, they would have taken Arkansas’ spot.

Despite Ken’s fears, the ACC got seven teams into the tournament, led by Carolina who is the overall #2 seed. Florida State & Clemson missed the dance. However, they will Join NC State in the NIT, giving the ACC ten teams in the post-season.

The Heels will open in Winston-Salem on Thursday against Eastern Kentucky. If they win, they will face the winner of the Marquette – Michigan State game. If the seeds hold, they will play the winner of the Southern Cal – Texas game in the sweet sixteen.

Maryland (Midwest) and Virginia (South) both drew #4 seeds. The Terps will open with Davidson in Buffalo on Thursday. The winner will face the winner of the Butler – Old Dominion game. The ‘Hoos will play Albany in Columbus on Friday. The winner will face the winner of the Tennessee – Long Beach game.

Virginia Tech is the #5 seed in the West. They will open with Illinois in Columbus on Friday. The winner gets the winner of the Southern Illinois – Holy Cross game.

Duke was seeded 6th in the West. They will open with Virginia Commonwealth in Buffalo on Thursday. The winner will play the winner of the Pittsburgh – Wright State game.

Boston College drew the # 7 seed in the East. They will face Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech squad in Winston-Salem on Thursday. If they survive the General, they get to face the winner of the Georgetown – Belmont game.

The last ACC team into the tournament was Georgia Tech who drew the 10th seed in the Midwest. They will open with UNLV in Chicago on Friday. If they can get past UNLV, they will play the winner of the Wisconsin – Texas A&M CC game.

No NCAAs for Duke?

CBS Sportline writers are always stirring the pot to piss people off. But no way Duke misses NCAAs.

If K's crew has more L's than W's in ACC, NCAAs might not call

Mike Krzyzewski has an amazing number of philosophies on life and basketball, many of which apply to both. Of them all, the one that stands out most at this moment is to never get too high or too low and always focus on moving forward.

I agree with that philosophy.

Seems like a reasonable way to live.

So I'm forgetting Duke's loss to North Carolina.

That's old news, and it's time to focus on moving forward.

"We don't have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves," is what freshman Jon Scheyer said after Duke squandered a double-digit lead in the second half Wednesday to lose 79-73.

And you know what?

He's exactly right. That the Blue Devils have dropped three consecutive games for the first time in nearly eight years isn't as much of a concern as is the fact that Duke's remaining schedule isn't favorable for a team needing victories to ensure an NCAA Tournament appearance.

In other words, if Duke isn't careful it could spend Selection Sunday on the bubble.

It's a wild proposition, I know, this being Duke and all. But the reality is the Blue Devils awoke Thursday owners of a shaky 18-6 record that includes as many ACC wins (five) as ACC losses (five) with only seven regular season games remaining.

The remaining games are:

• A non-conference road game at St. John's (Feb. 25)

• Two ACC home games against Georgia Tech (Feb. 18) and Maryland (Feb. 28).

• Four ACC road games at Maryland (Sunday), at Boston College (Feb. 14), at Clemson (Feb. 22) and at North Carolina (March 4).

Now let's take an honest look at the remaining schedule, guess how things might unfold.

The non-conference game: Duke is superior to St. John's, a team that is just 14-10 after holding on Wednesday to edge South Florida. Granted, the Red Storm have beaten Notre Dame and Syracuse at home. But they shouldn't beat Duke. So pencil this in as a win.

The ACC home games: In a normal season it'd be easy to also pencil these in as wins, but this isn't a normal season. Duke has already lost at home to Virginia Tech, Florida State and North Carolina. So also losing to Georgia Tech and/or Maryland isn't impossible, particularly given the Blue Devils have already lost at Georgia Tech. Regardless, be generous and put both these games down as wins, too.

The ACC road games: This is where things get tricky. It seems silly to suggest Duke could lose all four, but the truth is the Blue Devils haven't beaten an NCAA Tournament-caliber team on the road to date. They lost at Georgia Tech last month and at Virginia last week. So asking Duke to win at Maryland, at Boston College, at Clemson or at North Carolina is asking it to do something it hasn't done all season. Still, for argument's sake, take the Blue Devils to steal one of the four, perhaps at Maryland (where a 15-loss Miami team has already won).

(Deep breath)

So the assumption here is Duke sweeps Georgia Tech and Maryland at home, wins at St. John's and loses three of its four ACC road games. Add it up and that's a 22-9 overall record, 8-8 in the ACC, which would likely place Duke anywhere from fifth to seventh in the ACC.

Under that scenario, I suspect the Blue Devils will be fine. But anything less than 3-3 in the remaining six ACC games means Duke will end the regular season with a losing league record, and history suggests a losing league record greatly diminishes the chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

Consider: In the past eight seasons 12 ACC teams finished with 7-9 league records, or one game below .500. Only two of those 12 (16.7 percent) made the NCAA Tournament. In the same span six ACC teams finished with 8-8 league records, or at .500. Four of those six (66.7 percent) made the NCAA Tournament.

Bottom line, 8-8 is probably good enough.

But 7-9 just might not be.

So that's what's facing Duke heading into the weekend. And it's a good thing the Blue Devils have a coach who tells them to always focus on moving forward, because pulling this off will take every bit of focus they can muster.