How Far Do You Have NC State In Your Office Pool Bracket?

If you have NC State as a one and done, or in this case a two and done, you might want to reconsider.

The Wolfpack had a nice run in the ACC Tournament to earned on of the last spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Tueaday night in their First Four NC State looked like a team that may have a significant run in the tournament. The Wolfpack took care of business defeating Xavier 74-59 led by T.J. Warren with 25 points.

Thanks CBS Sports

“That’s what you want as a coach; you want your team to keep getting better and I think we are getting better still,” NC State head coach Mark Gottfried said.

The Wolfpack have gotten better as the season has progressed and now looks like that team in the NCAA Tournament you dread in your bracket.

The one requirement you must have if you going to wear Cinderella's slipper is a great player playing his best basketball in March.  You can check that column for NC State.

T.J. Warren is one of the best players in the country.  Warren has scored 20 or more points in 19 consecutive games including the 25 points against the Musketeers.

'I just wanted to come out and be aggressive,'' Warren said. ''My shots wouldn't fall in the first half, but my teammates did a great job of finding me.''

Another element is a supporting cast for that great player and NC State seems to have that going for them too.

The guard combination of Tyler Lewis and "Cat" Barber has been outstanding.  Lewis had eight assists Tuesday night.

'T.J.'s a terrific player,'' Lewis said. ''We know that sometimes it's not going to be his best game. We need everybody to step up and make plays. I thought in the second half, T.J. did a tremendous job of hitting some shots.''

When Warren is struggling putting the ball in the net Ralston Turner has taken some of that slack.  Turner had 17 points against Xavier.

“We’ve had a crazy 48 hours." Turner said.

Yes the Wolfpack have.  NC State has gone from not knowing the post-season future to a strong performance that has a few basketball fans wishing they can change their office pool bracket.

Saint Louis is next for NC State Thursday in Orlando, Florida and the Wolfpack might be catching the Billikens at the right time.  SLU has host 4 of their last 5.

That's where the element of luck comes into play.

How long until we here another version of the "Cardiac Pack?"

Thanks Fox Sports

BREAKIING: It's Official, Butler, Xavier And Creighton Join The "New" Big East Conference. Fox Sports New TV Partner

The new Big East Conference has a TV partner and three new schools to join the Catholic 7.

Butler and Xavier have informed the muckety mucks at the Atlantic 10 Conference they are withdrawing to join the new Big East.

“I wish Xavier University and Butler University all the best in their new conference." A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said Wednesday in a statement released by the conference.  "Xavier’s departure is unfortunate. Butler’s departure is a by-product of the chaotic conference realignment environment. BU’s association with the A-10 has been a fun ride this year; no regrets from the Atlantic 10 for providing a home for them during the 2012-13 season."

Creighton leaves the Missouri Valley Conference, the Blue Jays home since 1977.

Here's the announcement of Creighton's withdrawal from the MVC by University President the Rev. Timothy Lannon.




Those three join former original Big East members St. John's, Seton Hall, De­Paul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence and Villanova to form the basketball centric conference July, 1st.

Most importantly the new Big East has a media partner with Fox Sports.  Here's that announcement.




The A-10 can absorb the loss of Butler and Xavier, still many good teams in large media markets in that conference.

Creighton has been the big dog in the MVC the last few years.  The Valley will remain one of the best mid-majors in college basketball.  Wichita State is a solid program and no doubt will fill the void on the national scene left by Xavier.

Play-by-play guy loses his stool

((ht: awfulannouncing))

No silly, not that kind of stool.

Over the weekend, the CBSSports Network sent James Bates and Steve Wolf to work the Xavier/Dayton game in Cincinnati.

In most game broadcasts, the announcers sit on stool before the game to give a brief preview before tip-off. But those stools usually hold up.

Not on Saturday.

Check out what happens to Bates as his poorly made stool collapses sending him to a date with the floor. But props to him as he handles it really well and never misses a beat.

And for those into such things, our friends at Awful Announcing say Bates was a former linebacker and team captain at Florida in 1996 and his dad and brother have and do coach in the NFL.

Hmmm. Sounds like a pretty good feature story.

Here's your video:

Cincy Prosecutors Looking At Pursuing Charges, Players Apologize ((UPDATED With Miller Quote and Apology))

((HT: WKRC-TV))

Not that this would be a shock or anything...

But Hamilton County ((OH)) Prosecutor Joe Deters says his office will review the Cincy-Xavier fight to figure out whether or not they should press charges. Deters is a former member of the UC Board of Trustees.

"My office will review this matter to determine whether any criminal charges are appropriate. We will have no further comment until a decision is reached."

The Bearcats gave Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj, and Octavius Ellis six-game suspensions. Ge'Lawn Guyn was suspended for one game. Xavier suspended point guard Tu Holloway for one game, guard Mark Lyons for two games, and Dez Wells and Landen Amos for four games each.

Coach Mick Cronin also said his suspended players will have anger management counseling before they can return to the floor, and will have to apologize to the student body and perform community service.

Here's the latest with apologies and appropriate amount of sorrow, regret, and remorse


I guess Holloway was told being a thug or a gangsta was a bad thing, finally...

Xavier's President, Father Michael Graham, issued a statement about the incident:

"Xavier University takes very seriously the Jesuit Catholic tradition on which it is built and continuously encourages all members of the Xavier family to incorporate these high values into their daily lives. The University takes pride in the good works done each and every day by its alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends.

The unsportsmanlike events which occurred at the close of Saturday’s Crosstown Shootout were not representative of Xavier’s values and reflect on all members of the Xavier family.

The University takes full responsibility for the events at the end of Saturday’s game and the role of our student athletes. Officials at all levels have been working since Saturday afternoon to make things right and will continue to restore Xavier’s good name and faith in the integrity of Xavier University and its intercollegiate Athletic program.

University officials, including those from the Administration and Athletics, have reviewed the incident in its entirety and, in conjunction with the Atlantic 10 Conference, have taken the following actions:

Freshman Dezmine Wells, who had a mandatory one game suspension after being ejected from the game for fighting, has been given an additional three games by Xavier and will serve a four-game suspension. Sophomore Landen Amos has also been given a four-game suspension. Junior Mark Lyons will serve a two-game suspension. Senior Tu Holloway will serve a one-game suspension. Read more about the suspensions.

There is no excuse for what occurred and the team feels remorse for how they represented the University. Additionally, apologies have been made by the University, Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski, Coach Chris Mack and Xavier senior player Tu Holloway. Watch the Sunday news conference.

As a Jesuit Catholic institution we believe in justice and reconciliation and will learn from this sad experience. Fr. Michael Graham, President of Xavier University, has been in touch with his counterpart at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Greg Williams, to discuss how the two institutions might best cooperate to moderate the tone of the Crosstown Shootout itself and promote a spirit of cooperation between their students, alumni and fans. Players from both sides will work with the Cincinnati community in promoting proper sportsmanship. Students from both institutions are already exploring ways to strengthen the relationship between our two schools.

This has been a tough lesson, but with the support of the Xavier community, its alumni and friends, Xavier’s 180-year tradition of citizenship and values will grow only stronger."

PM UPDATE: Head coach at Arizona, Sean Miller decided to chime in on the whole situation...

Saturday in his own postgame presser, he opened his mouth... as the head coach of Xavier he had a little experience in the matter.

Maybe a little too much...

"Happens every game. I'm proud of those guys, I really am," Miller said of Xavier, his former team. "I would fully expect there to be a fight."

And, then, surprisingly he had to recant- and do so quickly...

“I made comments following our win Saturday over Clemson regarding my former team, Xavier University. These remarks were in response to a question as to whether I have been following Xavier’s on-the-court successes this season. My comments were directed toward my admiration of their on-the-court toughness and their respective approach to giving great effort as a team.”

“In no way was I condoning a fight. At the time of my press conference, I was only responding to my belief in several players that I once coached and a head coach, Chris Mack, that I have great respect for.”

Uh huh... nicely spun...
You're SO in trouble...

Class act: Xavier and Cincinnati brawl at end of game

In Cincinnati they call it the "Crosstown Shootout" and it is considered the highlight of the College Basketball year for Xavier and Cincinnati, both solid NCAA Tournament contenders almost every year.

And it is usually a close game, both teams are competitive. Xavier has had more success over the years and this year, they handed it to Cincinnati 76-53 in a game that won't be remembered for the play, it will be remembered for the horrible, low-class, low-rent, idiotic brawl that caused the game to end 9 seconds early.

The brawl left Xavier center Kenny Frease with a bloody, beaten eye after a serious sucker punch from Cincinnati's Yancey Gates. Gates also threw a ball off of Xavier guard Mark Lyons face. Lyons and Xavier guard Tu Holloway were also in the middle of it, and arguable were at the beginning of the brawl.

Your video from YouTube/Soundsystem75:



Read Cincinnati.com's version of what happened RIGHT HERE

Ok. First and foremost, there are going to be a few suspensions stemming from this. Multiple players were involved and far too many punches were thrown.

Perhaps the most galling part of this are the comments afterwards. Xavier's Mark Lyons saying "It was the younger guys yapping". Hollaway saying "They disrespected us". Hollaway also added what could possibly be classified as the most idiotic quote of all-time when he said in the post game presser, "We got a whole lot of gangsters in our locker room. Not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game. That's our motto, zip 'em up. And that's what we just did to them"

Yeah, great. Way to draw sympathy there Tu...

Having lived most of the past two years in Cincinnati, we fully realize this is what passes for major college sports in the city. And we realize fans for both teams are probably laughing in some way about it.

There is NOTHING that can excuse this. You can talk all the crap you want. You can hate the other team all you want. You CAN'T have fights like this.

There are rivalries all over the country that are far more entertaining, serious, cutthroat and mean more than this one does. But you don't see the players fighting like that. EVER!

We can only hope the Atlantic 10, The Big East and the NCAA will take the appropriate actions and suspend all the players involved for multiple games. That in the end will hurt both teams when it comes time for conference and NCAA tournament time and it should. Then maybe the players and the idiot fans will understand there is ZERO excuse for that kind of behavior.

You really should check out the post game press conference from Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. It's eye-opening, though you'll have to wait a couple of minutes. And no it isn't embeddable, you can click on the link RIGHT HERE

We give Cronin major props for his honesty.