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April 4, 2006

Bradley Gets Jobbed

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 8:10 pm

Well their fans probably think so. Their team makes the Sweet 16 and in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, they get ranked 24. Behind the two teams they beat. Kansas got 22 and Pitt finishes at #18.

In the totality of the season, and if I could pretend that the highs and lows didn’t happen, it could be argued that that’s not bad for starting the season unranked. Since I can’t however, it feels a bit disappointing.

The Big East finished with 5 teams in the top 25: UConn (4), Villanova (5), WVU (15), Georgetown (16) and Pitt. No other conference had more than 3 (SEC, ACC and Big 11).

And since you know that for the next few days, there will be top-10 to -25 projections for next year, Luke Winn on his SI.com Tourney Blog gives his top-10. No he doesn’t list Pitt, but puts them amongst the “On the fringe” list.

Collecting In The Office Pools

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 7:47 pm

I really don’t want to mention this, but I have to.

My wife won her office pool. She pretty much won it going away. Abandoning her usual practice of comparing mascots and asking my advice, she made her picks by comparing records, teams and some just plain dumb luck. It helped that her school — Cinci — wasn’t in the tournament to influence her biases (at least that is my ongoing theory).

When I took a look at her bracket after she finished, I think I snorted a few times especially with Florida winning it all. Stupidly, I said that if she won, I’d give her, her due.

So it’s not enough that I absolutely tanked the bracket pool, my wife won hers. I don’t drink because I want to…

Looking over the PSB bracket — congrats to P. Hunley — I can see that I’m not the only one to be topped by his wife. Lee in Altoona/State College would appear to have finished well behind his wife’s entry. She too had her team — Penn State — absent from the Tournament.

This Has To Happen

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 10:44 am

The Big East has to make sure this happen (link via Big East Basketball Report).

The Southeastern Conference has engaged the Big East in discussions for a similar series that one insider told the Daily News “are looking pretty serious.” The SEC also has explored a series with the Big 12 as a possible fallback.

Were the SEC and Big East to consummate their deal – with a series of 8-10 games annually – it would bring together two conferences that sent a combined 14 teams to this year’s NCAA Tournament.

“One of the things that could make it work is that fact that all the teams involved play in the same two time zones,” a second insider said. The games would be broadcast on ESPN should the sides reach an agreement.

Old-school Big East fans might still agitate for a return of the ACC challenge, but it seems unlikely that the Big 11 and ACC will split anytime soon. It just works for both a little better since there is less overlap in regions. I just want the Big East to do a series with any other major conference, and the SEC seems like the best choice. The PAC 10, while offering a nifty East vs. West angle isn’t workable given the size difference of the conferences. The Big 12 just isn’t that attractive, though, a K-State-Cinci game might be amusing.

If this happens, Pitt’s non-con for 2006-07 would likely be more than half complete: Duquesne, Robert Morris, Dayton, at Auburn, at Wisconsin and the SEC challenge game. I’d like to think the Penn State series would be renewed, but we all know how much Penn State hates one-sided series (that don’t go their way).

I think it is also good for the football side of things to build stronger ties with another BCS conference. Open the possibility for more dialogue on scheduling and just building personal relations with them. Anything to make it harder to lose the Automatic BCS bid.

Seton Hall Coaching Watch

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 9:27 am

I guess I’ll follow it through to the conclusion, even though Barry Rohrssen has faded from contention. Kind of keeping an eye on it, because if Bobby Gonzalez gets the gig, you have to imagine Rohrssen might get serious consideration from Manhattan.

Right now it is at best a 3-man race.

Seton Hall athletic director Joe Quinlan has narrowed the search for the school’s next basketball coach down to three candidates: Tim O’Shea of Ohio University, Bob McKillop of Davidson and Bobby Gonzalez of Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the search.

A decision could come as soon as today. An announcement is expected by the end of the week.

Once Quinlan makes a decision, he will have to get it approved by Monsignor Robert Sheeran, the school president. It will then be presented to the university’s Board of Regents — although it is believed that group will sign off on whomever Quinlan and Sheeran agree on.

Quinlan may contact John Carroll, who was an assistant to P.J. Carlesimo when Seton Hall advanced to the NCAA title game in 1989, out of courtesy today. Carroll’s biggest obstacle may be that he has not coached in college since serving as the Duquesne head coach for the 1994-95 season.

The Carroll interview will probably happen tomorrow, but it does look very much like a courtesy interview. Perhaps to gauge his interest in coming back as an assistant and lead recruiter for the metro area if O’Shea is hired from Ohio.

More likely, the decision will come down to Gonzalez or O’Shea.

Superficial Championship Thoughts

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chas @ 8:37 am

Okay, all those comparisons of Pitt to Florida earlier this season seem awfully silly right about now. Especially those complaints in January that Pitt was underrated while Florida was overrated. I think I’ll flush those down the memory hole.

I didn’t expect that game last night. I thought UCLA would win. I definitely didn’t expect to see UCLA completely beaten at all facets of the game. Really, name a part of the game where UCLA played better than Florida? Not anywhere on defense. Nothing offensively. Howland was completely outcoached by Donovan, who prepared his team so impressively.

Have to admit, my view on Billy Donovan as a head coach has completely shifted. He had that team prepared. He had them playing under control. He did everything right. Not to mention, the team never let up. Kept UCLA down and kept pushing them.

Anyone else see a lot of Pitt’s bad habits shining through with UCLA in that game? Or was I just projecting? Bad turnovers, trouble splitting double teams, not handling quickness real well, frustration from the veterans, poor shooting from the leading scorer.

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