Why March Madness is Better Than The College Football Playoffs

How awesome is March Madness...or what's more commonly known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament?

Tiny Mercer University from the Atlantic Sun Conference beats the legendary Duke Blue Devils of the ACC. North Dakota State of the Summit League beats Oklahoma from the Big 12. Wichita State of the Missouri Valley Conference is a #1 seed and Dayton from the Mid-American Conference beats Ohio State from the Big 10.

None of this could ever happen in College Football.

EVER...

No, these aren't marquee teams, they aren't household names and they don't draw viewers like an Alabama or Oregon in Football, but they draw pretty darn well in their own right.

That's why March Madness is more fun. Much more fun.

You know who is going to be in the College Football playoff. At least one, if not two SEC teams, a team from the Pac 10 and a team from the Big 10. And they haven't even played yet.

None of the teams mentioned in the second paragraph could EVER win College Football's national title. But they could in basketball.

Don't think for a minute Wichita State can't compete with a Kentucky or Florida or any ACC team in Basketball. They can. And they can win.

Remember the Shockers? Yeah, they were in last years Final Four.

Think Mercer could beat Duke in Football? Not a chance. But put the Senior laden Bears on the court with a Duke team chock full of Freshman. When the pressure is on, the seniors pulled away and won.

In basketball, experience usually wins. In basketball a good team beats good individual players. You don't have to have five 5-Star recruits to be successful in basketball.

College Football is all about size and depth. You want to know why the Alabama's and Oregon's of the world win year in and year out? Their 2nd and 3rd team players are better than your starters. They roll out 3 teams of 6-5, 300 lb linemen and three waves of 230 lb running backs who run a 4.4 40 yard dash.

That matters.

March Madness is more fun because it's more random. If you get in, you, in theory have a chance. If you get in, chances are, if you shoot lights out and your opponent doesn't, you could win.

Not in Football. No team from the Sun Belt could beat a top level SEC team. (Yes, we know Lousiana-Monroe beat Auburn a couple years ago and Ga. Southern beat Florida last year.) Your Sun Belt champ will NEVER be in the College Football playoff.

But the Sun Belt champ could win March Madness. Or at least win a couple of games. That will never happen in the College Football Playoff.

I submit to you this: Sure, College Football has bigger names and gets more publicity, but what is more fun to watch? An SEC team vs. the Pac 12 for the College Football championship or an NCAA Championship game featuring an underdog like a Butler, a school that doesn't even play football?

Seriously. How often will the football game be more dramatic? How likely is the football game to have an upset?

If you watch March Madness, it could happen in any game....

Here's a breakdown of Friday's Tournament in Raleigh, NC  from CBSSports.com:

More from Spokane, Washington:

And The Zinger From Macon For Mercer

((HT: Macon Telegraph))

The Mercer win over Duke blew up plenty of brackets around the planet...

So, it was the Telegraph's turn to show the world what it meant...

Ain't it cool...

NCAA Upset: Mercer Beats Duke, No Really, They Did (Update at bottom)

God bless the NCAA Basketball tournament, in College Football, games and upsets like this would never happen.

The Mercer Bears from Macon, Georgia made tons of casual College Basketball fans happy and sad at the same time after they beat the mighty Duke Blue Devils 78-71 in their NCAA Tournament opener.

The Atlantic Sun champs kept the game close all the way through and actually began to pull away from a very cold shooting Duke team as the game progressed.

We should note that as happy as many fans who hate Duke are, there are now tons of NCAA Tournament Bracket challenges that can be thrown away because quite honestly, how many people picked a #14 seed to beat a #3 seed.

The Bears were led by Jakob Gollon with 20 points and the team shot 56 percent on the game. By contrast, Duke shot 35 percent.

Here's the ending...
((HT: NCAA March Madness/SnappyTV))

Check out Mercer's Kevin Canevari's celebration dance:



CBSSports.com gives us reaction from Mercer coach Bob Hoffman and others:


***UPDATE***---We feel like this should be mentioned: We give Duke grief for being the New York Yankees of College Basketball, but it should be noted that coach Mike Krzyzewski took time after the game to go to the Mercer locker room, congratulate them and say "If we got beaten, at least we got beaten by a hell of a basketball team". Nice...

Prelude To Duke-UNC: Manager Fight At Dean Dome

((HT: cshulme/Lost Lettermen))

Tuesday at the Dean Dome, the student managers for UNC and Duke played in advance of the actual ACC game tonight...

But not without a little controversy...

This is what happens when elbows swing east-west
Here's the scrum off the rebound...


Ah... rivalry...

ICYMI: Florida State is BCS Title Bound After Pounding Duke

So, all the talk about Florida State doing what the ACC normally does, which is gag in the spotlight…well, that never happened.

The #1 ranked Seminoles took care of business Saturday night, winning the ACC Championship in Charlotte, NC over a game Duke squad, 45-7.

And was never that close.

Famous Jameis Winston threw 3 TD passes, 2 of them to Kelvin Benjamin, and Florida State's defense shutout the Blue Devils until the end of the game  when they gave up a late touchdown.

The win, seals FSU's berth in the BCS title game on January 6th, likely vs. Auburn. And it gives the so-called college football experts, a month to argue about who is better…

((note--It also sets up what should be an interesting month for Brother Jon, who went to FSU and his better half Patty who went to Auburn. Have fun with this one kids))

Your highlights from ESPN:

CFB Recap: FSU Stakes Claim to #1 After Whipping Florida

The game was over shortly after Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo drilled a 49-yard field goal in the 1st quarter.

FSU scored as needed and the University of Florida--well, they barely scored at all as the Seminoles beat their in-state rivals 37-7 in Gainesville.

Jameis Winston threw for 327 yards and 3 TD's, all to WR Kelvin Benjamin as Florida State climbs to 12-0 and after Alabama's loss, likely becomes the #1 team in all the land.

As for Florida, the loss, their 7th straight drops them to 4-8 and an offseason of change. The Gators offense, injuries aside struggled in every game and the defense while good, wasn't good enough to make a difference.

FSU moves on to the ACC title game next Saturday vs. Duke, a game where they likely will be heavily favored. And while the specter of Winston possibly being charged in a 2012 incident still hangs over the team, it doesn't appear it will change their status.

ESPN provides your highlights:

So, Wait... Who's Bowl-Eligible...???

The short answer is Minnesota, Duke, Tulane, and Rice...

And, no, this is not some kind of pre-Halloween joke or something...

The HQ has always enjoyed Coach Cut's work at Duke... he gets it... and, thankfully, the Athletic Department has had the patience they're supposed to with a program that is a square peg-round hole when it comes to the sport and the kids you can bring in to the program on a yearly basis...

Everyone likes to talk about "signature wins" and all that stuff... a supposed win where your program moves forward past a point of success and a glass ceiling- on to bigger things...

If you believe in those things, then the win over Virginia Tech yesterday in Blacksburg may have been it. There were entirely too many interceptions thrown by Logan Thomas. The Hokies defense kept the football Devils in check (and downright ineffective) in the second half, but the visitors held on.
((HT: ACCDN))


In the B1G, Minnesota either showed everyone how they're progressing as a team- putting the concerns around head coach Jerry Kill aside for another few days- or they exposed Nebraska for the charade they are as a ranked team...

Probably, the latter if you as the HQ (and Tommie Frazier- who went on another Twitter "toldyaso" rant after the game)...
Here's the Tracy Claeys special...
((HT: BTN))


Tulane knocked off Tulsa 14-7 in C-USA play to improve to 6-2 and stay undefeated in division play. The Green Wave are now bowl eligible for the first time since 2002...

It led to song...as it should have...
((HT: Stephen Segari))


And Rice is also 6-2 after taking care of UTEP 45-7. Taylor McHargue threw 4 TD passes and the Miners are now 1-6 on their own. But the cool moment was when 4'9" walk-on Jayson Carter got his first in-game reps...
Evidence below...
((HT: Rice SID))

Big Numbers, Big Whoop...Louisville, Miami, Baylor, Pitt

Ranked versus Unranked led to a 17-0 spread and an average score of 47-11...

Some people like it for the idea of getting your back-ups the chance to get reps- just in case...
Others think it's tiresome...

Baylor beat Louisiana-Monroe 70-7 and no one wants to play Baylor
((HT: KWTX-TV))


Iowa put up 59 against a directional Michigan school while Michigan actually just survived a UConn road game...

Savannah State picked up another paycheck traveling to Miami to get whacked by Miami 77-7. The spread was 60 and they covered...

“I know that I can change a program like this,” first-year Savannah State coach Earnest Wilson said. “We aspire to be big-time. A game like this helps us judge where we are. The only difference is depth. I know I have to go out and recruit and get some guys like they have.”

Savannah State got $375,000 for taking the trip to Miami, plus another chance to line up against a ranked program. The game was shortened in the fourth quarter. Wilson and Miami’s Al Golden talked at halftime and agreed to trim 3 minutes off the final quarter.

“I’ve been there,” Golden said. “I’ve been on the other side of those at Temple. He was trying to teach his team how to keep fighting. I’ve been in his shoes.”

Here's the highlights...


In Louisville, Teddy Bridgewater threw four touchdown passes and Louisville's defense allowed a school-record 30 yards, helping the seventh-ranked Cardinals blow out Florida International 72-0. It was the highest scoring game for the Cardinals since a 73-10 victory over Murray State in 2007. It also matched the school's fifth-largest margin of victory.

And in a game that, actually, was entertaining about it...
Pitt and Duke went after each other to the tune of a 58-55 shootout where the Panthers had to run out the clock on the ground...

What this says about Coach Cut and the Duke defense, the HQ doesn't really know... but there should be reason for optimism with the offense...

Horrible Kevin Ware Injury Mars Louisville-Duke Game

Oooof.

This unfortunately is not for the squeamish. But thankfully it was not a close up shot.

Sunday's Elite 8 Matchup between Duke and Louisville was delayed for about 15-minutes in the 1st Half after an absolutely horrific looking injury to Louisville Guard Kevin Ware.

Ware gave maximum effort in trying to block a jumper near the Louisville bench and landed awkwardly.

So awkwardly that when he landed, his shin turned in a direction that it shouldn't.

Again, we want to emphasize, this is NOT close up video of the injury (shot off someone's TV), but if you look closely, you can pretty clearly see it. We are NOT trying to exploit this by reporting it, but his injury is by far THE storyline of the 1st half of this game.

The look on the Louisville players faces said tons.

There are going to be people who question showing this video and it is a legitimate question. But as bad as the injury is and as sad as it was, the injury is now a major storyline in a national event. CBS has already been criticized for showing the replay at all, we disagree with the criticism. It's one thing to show it, it's necessary in order to tell the story and explain what happened. It's something entirely different to take it, show it, run it multiple times and zoom in. CBS did not do that. They focused on a telling the story via the players, fans and Cardinals coach Rick Pitino. We commend them for the way it was handled.

Ware was taken off the court on a stretcher and eventually left the arena via ambulance.

As of this posting, Louisville lead by 3 at the half. The winner of the game will square off with Wichita State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta next weekend. The Shockers--shocked the world, beating Ohio State Saturday night.



PM UPDATE: Gannett Newspapers and the USA Today caught up with Joe Theismann whose injury on Monday Night Football had become the instant comparison:

"My world just came to a complete stop, it was just a horrible, horrible thing to see happen — I hate to see anybody have an injury that is anywhere near anything like I went through,” Theismann told USA TODAY Sports. “All of a sudden, it’s, ‘Oh my God!’

“It’s a terrible, terrible to see. My prayers go out to him, my heart goes out to him. I know what his family is going through.

“I have every belief that he’s going to be back and better than he was."

Here's the postgame with Coach Pitino, Gorgui Dieng, Russ Smith and Peyton Siva...
((HT: Louisville Courier Journal))

Chris Collins To Leave Duke For Head Coaching Job At Northwestern

Chris Collins

According to an OSG source Duke associate head coach Chris Collins has accepted an offer from Northwestern to become the new head coach of the Wildcats.

For 12 years Collins has worked on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff at Duke. 

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports.com first reported that Collins was taking the Northwestern gig. 

According to Goodman Collins and Northwestern administrators met on Monday and an announcement is expected Wednesday.

It’s a good move by Northwestern, a program that has never played in the NCAA Tournament.

Collins comes from an ultra-highly successful program with similar academics as Northwestern so on the surface this is a perfect fit.  Hiring Collins will not guarantee an NCAA Tournament berth for the Wildcats but it gives the players and fans hope when you look at his background.

A pair of former Mike Krzyzewski assistant coaches and former guards for Coach K as well have taken over programs with high academic standards and enjoyed success.

Tommy Amaker coached Harvard into the NCAA Tournament this year and upset New Mexico in the first round screwing up every office pool bracket across the country.

Amaker’s backcourt mate when he played at Duke, Johnny Dawkins has led Stanford to the post-season the last few years.

Another former Duke guard, Bobby Hurley, was hired by the University of Buffalo as the Bulls head coach.

The Mike Krzyzewski coaching tree keeps growing branches.

It Was All About The "U" Against Duke. "Canes Beat The Hell Out Of The Blue Devils

We haven’t seen swagger like this from a Miami team since the hay day of the Hurricanes’ football teams of the 1980’s and 1990’s. 

The number one ranked Duke Blue Devils were ambushed by 25^th ranked Miami at the Bank United Center 90-63. 

The last time Duke got whack like this was way back on January 18, 1984 when Wake Forest put a pounding on the Blue Devils 97-66.

“They were men, we were boys.”  Duke head coach Mikc Krzyzewski said after the game.

Not an easy thing for Coach “K” to say but spot on.                

Miami locked down Seth Curry who was 0-10 from the field and 0-5 in three point attempts to finish with zero points.

Combined Curry, Mason Plumlee and Quinn Cook were 6-37 from the field and the Blue Devils shot 30 percent.

“In this game you can be hit with anything and then you have to be able to hit back.” Krzyzewski said.

Duke had no counter punch to Miami’s hay makers.  A 25-1 first half run by the Hurricanes turned out to be the finisher.

“We beat the No. 1 team in the nation, that’s big time,’’ Miami center Reggie Johnson said.

What Miami is doing in the ACC is big time.  The ‘Canes are 5-0 in the ACC and right now comfortably in first place. 

Shane Larkin is stating his case as the best point guard in the ACC.  Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said he’s waiting to see the best out of Shane Larkin.  Wednesday night coach “L” saw one of Larkin’s best performances representing the “U”

The son of baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Larkin also dished out five assists.

Shane Larkin is all about getting his team mates involved and sharing the ball.

“As a point guard it more important to get your teammates involved.”  Larkin said.  “Getting assists if more important that scoring the basketball.”

10 rebounds from your point guard?  That when you know it was your night.

“I actually couldn’t believe it.” Larkin said. “We do a rebounding drill every day at practice and I guess it’s working out.”

Next up for Miami is a home date with last season’s ACC Champion and in-state rival Florida State.  The ‘Canes better get over Wednesday’s big win, the Seminoles will be ready to bum them out Sunday.

The Hurricanes looked like a Final Four team last night and it’s certainly possible that Miami could be in Atlanta in April. 

On Wednesday though, it was all about the “U”.

Could The Duke Blue Devils Be College Football's "Feel Good" Story Of 2012

If you are looking for a feel good college football story start directing your focus toward Durham, North Carolina where the Duke Blue Devils are close to becoming bowl eligible.

Saturday Duke defeated Wake Forest for the first time since 1999 34-27 to end September 4-1, the Blue Devils best start since 1994 which was the last time Duke went to a bowl game.

Here’s a game report from Bob Holliday of WRAL-TV.

 

And here’s the game highlights. (Thanks goduke.com)

 

Here’s what’s left on Duke’s schedule:

Oct. 6              Virginia

Oct. 13            at Virginia Tech

Oct. 20            North Carolina

Oct. 27            at Florida State

 
Nov. 3            Clemson

Nov. 17           at Georgia Tech

Nov. 24           Miami

Yes it gets tough for the Blue Devils but Duke should be favored against Virginia and Georgia Tech, win those games and Duke is bowl eligible.

Of course Duke would like to pull off a few upsets along the way and the way this team is playing with confidence it would surprise me.

Plus those of us at the OSG HQ are ignoring the “no cheering in the press box” rule and openly pulling for Duke head coach David Cutcliffe.  Coach Cut is one of the classiest in the business.  What he has accomplished at Duke in five years in amazing.  It may not be reflected in the won-loss record but that program has come a long way.

And Another #2 Seed Goes Down. Lehigh Shocks Duke

Missouri losing to Norfolk State is one thing. Duke losing to Lehigh is off the charts.

Yet the Mountain Hawks played the game of their lives and defeated the Blue Devils in Greensboro, NC of all places 75-70.

Here's the highlights of this shocker. (Thanks CBS Sports)



“I sit here today humbled by the opportunity to share this experience with wonderful student-athletes, individuals who have invested so much of their time into their academic pursuits, building character, being unified as a team and ultimately fighting through a great deal of adversity through an entire season to grow and learn together,” Lehigh head coach Brett Reed said.

The players were equally humbled. (Thanks Fox Sports)



The Mountain Hawks were led by C.J. McCollum with 30 points. It's the first time a Patriot team has won an NCAA Tournament game since Bucknell defeated Arkansas in 2006.

Duke's Mason Plumlee had a heck of a game shooting 9-9 from the field ending the game with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Austin Rivers also added 19 points however the Blue Devils had a hard time making shots shooting only 41 percent.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski admits Duke's offense hasn't been the same the last two weeks. (Thanks WRAL-TV)



Duke's season is now over.

Lehigh moves on to the third round to face 10th seed Xavier.

You Can't Keep Duke Down, NC State Found That Out

Their seems to be no lead large enough to beat down the Duke Blue Devils. Thursday night the N.C. State Wolfpack dominated the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium from the opening tip. The Wolfies had a 20 point lead with about 11 and a half minutes left in the game.

Then Seth Curry got hot, NC State was in major foul trouble and the Cameron Crazies were turning up the noise.

What happened was a tremendous comeback by Duke overcoming the large N.C. State lead and prevailing 78-73.

Here's a game report by the gentlemen who called the game for the ACC Network Tim Brando and Mike Gminski. (Thanks Raycom Sports)



Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski admits the Blue Devils were outplayed for a while. (Thanks WRAL-TV)



NC State was in foul trouble most of the second half which according to Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried suppressed their aggressiveness.



Duke's Seth Curry scored 21 of his game high 26 points in the second half. Lorenzo Brown lead the Wolkpack with 19 ponts.

OSG Buzzer Beater: Austin Rivers sinks Carolina

Another Duke vs. North Carolina game. Another opportunity for breathless hyperbole from Dickie V. Another "Classic Rivalry" game.

And though they may not be the very best teams in the land, Wednesday night, they easily had the best game.

Carolina led for most of the game and late in the 2nd half was still up by 10-points, at home. And then something strange happened.

Duke took over.

They quickly chipped away, but still trailed by 2 with just a few seconds to play.

That's when freshman Austin Rivers (Doc's son), dribbled around, stepped back from the 3-point line and drilled the game-winner.

Duke beats Carolina...at Carolina...at the buzzer...85-84.



Here's a full report from ACC Network's Tim Brando and FOSG Dan Bonner. Dan has a great interview with Austin Rivers and plenty of reaction shots from Austin's dad Doc Rivers.



Austin Rivers talks about the big shot to shoot down North Carolina. (Thanks WRAL-TV Raleigh, NC)



And Mike Krzyzewski talks about another classic game in the "Battle Of The Blues." (Thanks WRAL-TV)



Duke's win over North Carolina ended the Tar Heels 30 game winning streak at the Dean Smith Center.