The Mid-Majority : Season 9: We Are, Together.

Having recently completed its 9th season, The Mid-Majority is a community chronicle of the smaller Division I college basketball conferences. Last year, the theme was Team. Six groups of five (plus a fantasy mid-major player) were engaged in friendly Amazing Race-style competition, criss-crossing Hoops Nation to provide awesome college basketball content. Season X (2013-14) will be our final one.

Recent Game Recaps

Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Memories

So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen

Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Challenge 11: Final Four Memories

By George, UConn is Dead

Butler and Us

Donning the Black and Gold

Challenge 10: Tourney Memories

The Madness of the Horizon League

The Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament

MAC Madness

Anything Can Happen in the MAAC

Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood

A Youthful Surprise

From Worst to First

Peers and Seers

Tag: Brown Bears
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1. Just Another Ivy Saturday Night by John Ezekowitz

S9 February 16, 2013 It is often difficult for college basketball fans who do not follow the Ivy League to understand the profound swings that race their way up and down the Eastern seaboard on cold winter Fridays and Saturdays. For every other college basketball league, the regular season is important, but there is al... [more]

2. Red Panda at the Palestra by Raymond Curren

S9 February 12, 2013 "Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come." - Chinese Proverb PHILADELPHIA - I could sit here and talk to you about Penn basketball and their remarkable second half against Brown Saturday night at the Palestra, outscoring the Bears by 25 points in the final 22 minutes on the w... [more]

3. Where's The Gym? by Raymond Curren

S9 January 10, 2013 PROVIDENCE, R.I. - You try not to assume things in life, but if you're anything like me, you do anyway. Maybe you don't. Maybe it's a character flaw.I should get proper directions to arenas I've never been to before, but I usually just assume that the basketball arena would be somewhere on the camp... [more]

4. Score One for the Old Men by Raymond Curren

S9 November 16, 2012 Game #9-037: Brown Bears at Central Connecticut Blue DevilsNovember 15, 2012 7:30 pmDetrick GymBBState Stats/Recap "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream."- C.S. LewisNEW BRITAIN, Conn. - For better or for worse, there are more Mike Martins than Howie Dickenmans in Our ... [more]

5. The Impossible Triad (Harvard vs. Brown) by John Ezekowitz

S8 March 29, 2012 Game #8-479: Harvard Crimson at Brown BearsJanuary 28, 2012 6:00 pmPizzitola Sports CenterBBState Stats/RecapThe Pizzitola Sports Center is a bizarre place to watch a college basketball game. It is a low-slung, wide building from the outside, connected to Brown's hockey rink next door. Inside, the s... [more]

6. The Drought by John Ezekowitz

S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-791: Brown Bears at Harvard CrimsonFebruary 17, 2012 7:00 pmLavietes PavilionBBState Stats/RecapAs Harvard and Brown lined up for the National Anthem on a mild February Friday night at Lavietes Pavillion, you could easily spot the disparity that became the story of the Bears' season. Harvard... [more]

7. Brown at Pennsylvania 3/2/2012 by Jennifer Ahearn

S8 March 6, 2012 Game #8-706: Brown Bears at Pennsylvania QuakersMarch 2, 2012 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/RecapBy the time I had a chance to write about the game that took place on Friday night, Brown coach Jesse Agel had already lost his job.Brown certainly came into the Palestra looking overmatched. They wer... [more]

8. The Big Mean Green by Darcy Ireland

S8 January 31, 2012 Game #8-486: Dartmouth Big Green at Brown BearsJanuary 27, 2012 7:00 pmPizzitola Sports CenterBBState Stats/RecapThe innocuous look on the face of the young man did a noble job hiding his true emotions that crisp Friday evening. As he was pacing toward the entrance of a large cathedral of a building... [more]

9. Brown`s Missed Opportunity by Matt Cayuela

S8 January 29, 2012 Game #8-479: Harvard Crimson at Brown BearsJanuary 28, 2012 6:00 pmPizzitola Sports CenterBBState Stats/RecapMy third game of the day could have been considered the main event of the evening. Harvard’s success has become well known throughout the year and it is easily the most recognizable... [more]

10. Hey, I Know You by Rhett Umphress

S8 January 22, 2012 Game #8-425: Yale Bulldogs at Brown BearsJanuary 21, 2012 2:30 pmPizzitola Sports CenterBBState Stats/RecapBasketball scheduling is always a tricky proposition. Coaches and athletic directors look to find a balance that keeps their team competitive, prepares their athletes for conference play and av... [more]

11. Rebirth Of The Cool by Kyle Whelliston

S7 April 3, 2011 AP HOUSTON -- In the early morning of January 20, 2009, after watching South Carolina State and Howard play a MEAC regular season game, I slept for two hours, grabbed my stuffed basketball, and made my way through the spaghetti tangle of Beltways and Metro lines to be on the Washington Mall to witn... [more]

12. The Beautiful by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 31, 2011 AP HARTFORD, Conn. -- I remember my first fixed game. It was five seasons ago. In the final minute of a body-bag guarantee matchup in an ACC arena, with the home team up by 14, a player on the home team broke away for a transition layup. But before he could rise to the hoop, players on the bench ye... [more]

13. Game 7-094: NCAA Round of 64, East Region 8/9 by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 19, 2011 [9] Villanova Wildcats vs. [8] George Mason PatriotsMarch 18, 2011 2:10 pmCleveland, OHBBState Stats/Recap Getty Images > TMM360 Mason never wore white during the 2006 run. They also didn't awesome have glowing Kryptonite Nikes. They certainly weren't mercurial like this, didn't trade offense for d... [more]

14. Game 7-087/088: Atlantic 14 Semifinals by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 12, 2011 [12] Saint Joseph's Hawks vs. [9] Dayton FlyersMarch 12, 2011 1:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap [3] Richmond Spiders vs. [2] Temple OwlsMarch 12, 2011 3:30 pmBBState Stats/Recap AP The Atlantic Four become an Atlantic Two, without any Philadelphia representation for the first time since 2007. It does alw... [more]

15. Tourney Central 3/12/2011 (Day 12) by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 12, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsA hearty 'Ray'... [more]

16. Game 7-085/086: Atlantic 14 Quarterfinals by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 12, 2011 [10] La Salle Explorers vs. [2] Temple OwlsMarch 11, 2011 6:30 pmBBState Stats/Recap Rhode Island Rams vs. Richmond SpidersMarch 11, 2011 9:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap After a pair of quarterfinal upsets that set up a 9/12 semifinal, the evening session of the Atlantic 14 tourney goes according to se... [more]

17. Game 7-081/082/083/084: Mid-American Quarterfinals by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 11, 2011 Bowling Green Falcons vs. Western Michigan BroncosMarch 10, 2011 12:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap Akron Zips vs. Miami (Oh.) RedhawksMarch 10, 2011 2:30 pmBBState Stats/Recap Buffalo Bulls vs. Kent State Golden FlashesMarch 10, 2011 7:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap Ohio Bobcats vs. Ball State CardinalsMarch 10... [more]

18. Game 7-071/072/073/074: America East Quarterfinals by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 6, 2011 [5] Stony Brook Seawolves vs. [4] Albany Great DanesMarch 5, 2011 12:05 pmBBState Stats/Recap [9] Binghamton Bearcats vs. [1] Vermont CatamountsMarch 5, 2011 2:15 pmBBState Stats/Recap [7] New Hampshire Wildcats vs. [2] Boston University TerriersMarch 5, 2011 6:05 pmBBState Stats/Recap [6] Hartford... [more]

19. Game 7-069/070: Metro Atlantic First Round by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 5, 2011 Marist Red Foxes vs. Niagara Purple EaglesMarch 4, 2011 7:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/RecapManhattan Jaspers vs. Siena SaintsMarch 4, 2011 9:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/Recap The time-honored tradition of the MAAC's #PFF, the two games that bring a 10-team league into a more manageable, ... [more]

20. Tourney Central 3/4/2011 (Day 4) by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 4, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsOn the third d... [more]

21. Stardate 115-20110302: One More Chance To Try To Save My Soul by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 2, 2011 KINGSTON, R.I. -- The stars are beginning to flicker and burn out in the elimination games. For others, it's far from over. Here, one final look at the remaining league regular season races as we move towards getting all the rest of the Other 25 conferences in the gate and ready for bracket time. ... [more]

22. Tourney Central 3/1/2011 (Day 1) by Kyle Whelliston

S7 March 1, 2011 Bullet Points The calendar says March 1. Repeat: March 1. Elimination games begin this evening on the first day of Championship Fortnight. For the fourth straight year, we will be providing daily updates to the tourney brackets, an avalanche of Basketball State information, and links to resources fr... [more]

23. Stardate 113-20110228: Like Sonny Liston by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 28, 2011 BOSTON -- There was never any master plan to any of it. The four-stage season and its familiar rhythms were formed by generations of pushes and pulls, and the best concepts became traditions. Putting the non-conference games at the beginning, holding separate league round-robins and eliminators, t... [more]

24. Game 7-063: Columbia at Penn by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 26, 2011 Columbia Lions at Pennsylvania QuakersFebruary 25, 2011 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/Recap 30fps Palestra home shopping, #omgivydunx, the Good Drinks, Ben & Ed & William, golden pants, and Bally's greatest TV moment. Ever. @midmajority Game Tweets18:35 RT @SethHunt105: @midmajority Ooooo an en... [more]

25. Stardate 108-20110223: Shootaround Deluxe by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 23, 2011 CHICAGO -- Every single one of the conference games going on tonight, and tomorrow, and Friday and Saturday too, were scheduled months in advance by a league office (or, in some cases, years ago). Some were circled rivalry games worth driving a day for, others were just-anothers. In early March, t... [more]

26. Stardate 101-20110216: Dream Seasons by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 16, 2011 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- March really is here before we know it, because there's half a week missing out of February. This month wasn't designed that way -- and nothing was adjusted for our benefit or anything -- but it's still disorienting and disruptive to look at a calendar and realize that in two ... [more]

27. Game 7-050: Yale at Harvard by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 14, 2011 Yale Bulldogs at Harvard CrimsonFebruary 11, 2011 7:00 pmLavietes PavilionBBState Stats/Recap "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard": the original Ivy League smac-rap. @midmajority Game Tweets18:14 #FF @findthelastman. Take *that*, Christmas Creep!18:17 RT @LoyolanSports: @midmajority Happy birthday to the... [more]

28. Game 7-049: American at Lehigh by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 7, 2011 American Eagles at Lehigh Mountain HawksFebruary 6, 2011 2:00 pmStabler ArenaBBState Stats/Recap In which we prepare to bunker down for Last Man. @midmajority Game Tweets13:55 Game No. 7-049: American at Lehigh. You are here. http://img.ly/2WtR13:57 Nothing makes for a better pregame show than...... [more]

29. Game 7-048: Harvard at Pennsylvania by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 7, 2011 Harvard Crimson at Pennsylvania QuakersFebruary 5, 2011 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/Recap The last real Palestra soft pretzel, and double overtime. @midmajority Game Tweets18:12 RT @gashaheen: Be a NCAA Bkb Comm member - Step 1: make YOUR list of no-brainer teams "in" + a list of those whic... [more]

30. Game 7-047: Rhode Island at Temple by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 7, 2011 Rhode Island Rams at Temple OwlsFebruary 5, 2011 2:00 pmThe Liacouras CenterBBState Stats/Recap Hooter's birthday, and fake Zooperstars. @midmajority Game Tweets13:48 Game No. 7-047: Rhode Island at Temple. Temple University welcomes you and your family.13:50 This, friends, is a band. http://img... [more]

31. Game 7-046: Dartmouth at Pennsylvania by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 6, 2011 Dartmouth Big Green at Pennsylvania QuakersFebruary 4, 2011 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/Recap On a February Friday night in Philadelphia, there's no other place to be. @midmajority Game Tweets18:58 Game No. 7-046: Dartmouth at Penn. (Corrected.) Helloooo! http://img.ly/2VEk19:03 Penn huddlz... [more]

32. 800 Games Project: Practice Run No. 4 by Kyle Whelliston

S7 February 4, 2011 Friday mornings have become extra-enjoyable, because these game reports that are coming in are really great. While there's a lot of Season 7 left, I'm excited about Season 8, and the prospect of having well-written, well-executed student and passionate fan accounts of games across Hoops Nation to re... [more]

33. Game 7-044: Cornell at Harvard by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 30, 2011 Cornell Big Red at Harvard CrimsonJanuary 29, 2011 6:00 pmLavietes PavilionBBState Stats/Recap I believe. @midmajority Game Tweets17:32 We are so early to this Cornell-Harvard game that we can pay a visit to the World's Classiest Dunkin Donuts. http://img.ly/2Tjx17:33 Airball's Revenge. RT @midm... [more]

34. Game 7-042: Columbia at Harvard by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 30, 2011 Columbia Lions at Harvard CrimsonJanuary 28, 2011 7:00 pmLavietes PavilionBBState Stats/Recap Thirty years ago, sixteen and one were just a pair of numbers, even to basketball fans. In the early 1980s, "Sixteen" had no real hoops significance outside the state of Kentucky, because the NCAA Tournam... [more]

35. Game 7-040: Binghamton at Boston University by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 29, 2011 Binghamton Bearcats at Boston University TerriersJanuary 26, 2011 9:00 pmCase GymBBState Stats/Recap New England has had a tough winter. Snowstorm after blizzard after Nor'Easter has dumped feet and feet of snow on the upper right-hand corner of Hoops Nation; it's piled high along the sides of roa... [more]

36. 800 Game Project: Practice Run #3 by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 28, 2011 It's Friday morning, and it's time for more game reports. First, though, let's take a look back at Thursday's action via 360, including the strange story of Towson getting caught in the snow on the way to George Mason. Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth beats Hofstra 82-67 (G!O!T!N!)West Coast: McConne... [more]

37. Game 7-039: Illinois-Chicago at Loyola (Ill.) by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 24, 2011 Illinois-Chicago Flames at Loyola (Ill.) RamblersJanuary 22, 2011 4:00 pmJoseph Gentile CenterBBState Stats/Recap In a century of progress, college basketball has proven to be infinitely scalable: from the cramped quarters of the 3,400-seat oldest living Division I gymnasium at Fordham to a 90,000... [more]

38. Game 7-037: Southern Illinois at Northern Iowa by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 18, 2011 Southern Illinois Salukis at Northern Iowa PanthersJanuary 15, 2011 8:00 pmMcLeod CenterBBState Stats/Recap Of all the times we've been to Cedar Falls, there's one consistent memory: feeling like every extremity is going to freeze and fall off on the walk from the car to the arena (whether the old... [more]

39. Stardate 57-20110103: Become What You Are by Kyle Whelliston

S7 January 3, 2011 CHICAGO -- Coaches talk a lot about taking things away from an opponent; indeed, one of the objects of basketball is exert enough force and will as to displace identity. If the other team is slow and methodical, you might try to speed them up, or vice-versa. If there's a dynamic star who scores an... [more]

40. Game 7-029: Middle Tennessee at Evansville by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 21, 2010 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Evansville AcesDecember 18, 2010 3:05 pmRoberts Municipal StadiumBBState Stats/Recap Roberts Municipal Stadium was built in 1956, back when indoor arenas were called "stadiums" and it didn't sound kind of awkward. It has seen a lot of Evansville Purple Aces basket... [more]

41. Stardate 44-20101221: The One With Embedded Charts by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 21, 2010 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- When do Red Line Upsets happen? Well, one timeframe when they don't is January and February. That's when everybody's playing conference games. So that means we are closing in on the end of rooting for the little guys, surprise @RedLineUpsets alerts on Twitter, and all of the oth... [more]

42. Stardate 43-20101220: Error 302 Object Moved by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 20, 2010 Kyle, I remember reading your "Lombardi" piece when you first posted it, but since you referenced it, I re-read it. What strikes me now, is what separates the game you talk about, compared to what's covered by the larger sports media. To them wins and losses adds to the entertainment. Basketball (... [more]

43. Stardate 39-20101216: Lunchbang by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 16, 2010 15:08@whelliston I just straight-up lunchbanged some Casey's General Store pizza and potato cheese wedges. #boOMFG15:38@caseysgenstore @whelliston: Happy to hear you enjoy our pizza :-)16:54@whelliston: I love it and want to marry it! RT @caseysgenstore: @whelliston: Happy to hear you enjoy our pi... [more]

44. Game 7-025: Long Island at Northwestern by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 14, 2010 Long Island Blackbirds at Northwestern WildcatsDecember 13, 2010 8:00 pmWelsh-Ryan ArenaBBState Stats/Recap I'm not even sure how it happens anymore. Every so often, something like a perfectly normal mid-December guarantee game in a Big Ten arena can be transformed into something bigger, greater, gr... [more]

45. The Moment by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 10, 2010 Last week, we asked you to submit a short essay about a college basketball moment that altered your life's course. To some, that meant a real shift, and to others it was a play that closed a circle and instilled something deep in the heart. We received 26 entries, and they were all great, but we h... [more]

46. Stardate 32-20101209: The Journey or The Conversation by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 9, 2010 CINCINNATI -- Recently, at a game, I sat next to a "national columnist" as I tapped away at my keyboard, scribbling notes in a notebook, wearing my suit with sneakers, accompanied by my stuffed basketball companion. Afterwards, as I was packing up, he extended his hand tentatively. "Kyle, right?" he... [more]

47. Game 7-021: Purdue at Valparaiso by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 8, 2010 Purdue Boilermakers at Valparaiso CrusadersDecember 7, 2010 9:00 pmAthletics-Recreation CenterBBState Stats/Recap Hope. (via 30fps) @midmajority Game Tweets 20:54 Game 7-021: Purdue at Valparaiso. Hail Crusaders who rise to glory.20:57 RT @cmlrun: @midmajority Our colors are unfurled.21:00 Awes... [more]

48. Stardate 31-20101208: Hold On Hope by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 8, 2010 FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Athletics-Recreation Center at Valparaiso is a brick multipurpose sports facility, and at its heart is a fieldhouse-style gymnasium where the hooping Crusaders play. Most of the time, when Horizon League teams like Youngstown State and Green Bay visit, the place might fill ... [more]

49. Game 7-017: Canisius at Binghamton by Kyle Whelliston

S7 December 1, 2010 Canisius Golden Griffins at Binghamton BearcatsNovember 30, 2010 7:00 pmMid-Majority Events CenterBBState Stats/Recap I want to just talk to the Binghamton people for a second. Just the Binghamton people. OK, does 30 percent of the student population have red hair? Seriously, what's the deal? @mi... [more]

50. Stardate 23-20101130: Le Rouge et le Noir by Kyle Whelliston

S7 November 30, 2010 Double Yellow Line Upset! Both for its "do not pass" implications as well as its road imagery, I nominate Double Yellow Line Upset for the Chaminade-Michigan State style wins.- Charles C.Maybe the "Punch Line Upset," as that's what the vicitimized Red Line school will be for about 36 hours in the sp... [more]

51. Games 7-012/013/014/015: CBE Classic Subregional at James Madison by Kyle Whelliston

S7 November 27, 2010 Bucknell Bison vs. Princeton TigersNovember 23, 2010 4:30 pmHarrisonburg, VABBState Stats/Recap Presbyterian Blue Hose at James Madison DukesNovember 23, 2010 7:00 pmJMU Convocation CenterBBState Stats/Recap Princeton Tigers vs. Presbyterian Blue HoseNovember 24, 2010 4:30 pmHarrisonburg, VABBState ... [more]

52. Games 7-009/010/011: CBE Classic Subregional at Miami (Oh.) by Kyle Whelliston

S7 November 26, 2010 Green Bay Phoenix vs. San Diego State AztecsNovember 20, 2010 5:30 pmOxford, OHBBState Stats/RecapIUPUI Jaguars at Miami (Oh.) RedhawksNovember 20, 2010 8:00 pmMillett HallBBState Stats/RecapSan Diego State Aztecs at Miami (Oh.) RedhawksNovember 22, 2010 7:00 pmMillett HallBBState Stats/Recap Mil... [more]

53. Stardate 16-20101123: Continuity Error by Kyle Whelliston

S7 November 23, 2010 @midmajority @RedLineUpsets is it really an upset if wake loses?(via Twitter)BECKLEY, W. Va. -- As many of you are aware, a good percentage of what happens on The Mid-Majority doesn't happen here. A lot of the action is in real time, on the Twitter. Back in the 1980s, when people had hair like that ... [more]

54. Game 7-006: Austin Peay at Lipscomb by Kyle Whelliston

S7 November 19, 2010 Austin Peay Governors at Lipscomb BisonsNovember 18, 2010 8:15 pmAllen ArenaBBState Stats/Recap During the conference season, Fridays are the ones out of the seven with the fewest games. Usually, there are Ivy League games, a couple Patriot tilts, and whatever ESPNU has convinced the Horizon or M... [more]

55. The Too Big Yo Symposium by Kyle Whelliston

S6 April 1, 2010 INDIANAPOLIS -- Gordon "G-Time" Hayward has officially gone platinum. The "Too Big Yo" smac rap surfaced on YouTube two weeks ago, was taken down quickly when the track went national, and then the rescued audio was posted here on this site. We've made attempts to offload some of the traffic to other... [more]

56. The Hoops National: March 6, 2010 by The Robot

S6 March 6, 2010 NOTE: The Hoops National will only cover regular-season games for the remainder of the week. Big Games Ivy League: Cornell 95, at Brown 76 CORN - 26-4 (12-1) [RPI: 46, State: 50] BRWN - 11-19 (5-8) [RPI: 250, State: 281] Star of the Game: Jon Jaques 20 Pts (7-9 FG), 7 Reb Men's Hoops Claims Thir... [more]

57. The Hoops National: February 22, 2010 by The Robot

S6 February 22, 2010 Big Games Atlantic 14: at Duquesne 73, Dayton 71 DUQ - 15-12 (6-7) [RPI: 98, State: 118] UD - 18-8 (7-5) [RPI: 37, State: 48] Star of the Game: Eric Evans 14 Pts (6-9 FG, 2-2 FT) Dukes Down Dayton, 73-71 - Damian Saunders, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, hit a driving layup w... [more]

58. The Hoops National: February 21, 2010 by The Robot

S6 February 21, 2010 Big Games BracketBusters: at Butler (HL) 70, Siena (MAAC) 53 BUTL - 25-4 (17-0) [RPI: 21, State: 12] SIE - 22-6 (15-1) [RPI: 31, State: 46] Star of the Game: Shelvin Mack 23 Pts (8-14 FG, 4-5 FT), 6 Reb Mack and Hayward lead way to Bracketbuster win on Senior Day - Shelvin Mack scored 23 point... [more]

59. The Hoops National: February 20, 2010 by The Robot

S6 February 20, 2010 Big Games BracketBusters: at Northern Iowa 71, Old Dominion 62 UNI - 24-3 (14-2) [RPI: 21, State: 12] ODU - 21-8 (13-3) [RPI: 41, State: 48] Star of the Game: Ali Farokhmanesh 23 Pts (6-10 FG, 6-6 FT) Farokhmanesh's 23-Point Second Half Pushes #24 UNI Past Old Dominion, 71-62 - CEDAR FALLS, I... [more]

60. Why Things Suck by Kyle Whelliston

S6 February 1, 2010 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- This was going to be the day. Conditions could not have been more perfect. The Bryant Bulldogs, 0-21 on the season, had the struggling Monmouth Hawks right where they wanted them -- on the ropes. The newest member of the Northeast Conference sprung out to a 15-5 lead on the four... [more]

61. Good Morning Hoops Nation: March 12 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 March 12, 2009 KATY, Tex. -- Quick programming note: we've run into some technical difficulties here in Texas, so that marathon chat we promised has to be postponed. Next week seems a better fit anyway, since there will be an actual 65-team bracket to talk about. We'll do a regular chat tomorrow from Cleveland at ... [more]

62. Good Morning Hoops Nation: February 26 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 February 26, 2009 ATHENS, Ohio -- As was noted in this kind piece by the newspaper I spent my college career wishing I could work for, next week marks the beginning of what we're really here for, what this is really all about. The conference tourneys mark the third of the four seasons within a season in college baske... [more]

63. MMBOW #15: Gordon Hayward, Butler by Kyle Whelliston

S5 February 23, 2009 Slumdog Millionaire (a film we saw in Indianapolis hours after penning this paper plane), was easy enough to predict as a Best Picture winner, although others of these supposed lead-pipe locks would have lost you your mortgage money. And so it is with predicting the machinations of another academy. ... [more]

64. Good Morning Hoops Nation: February 18 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 February 18, 2009 SAN LUIS OBISPO, Cal. -- Morning really is a relative concept, isn't it? It's always morning somewhere, or 5 p.m., or the night time (a/k/a "the right time"). And it just might be Morning in America all over again, depending on what economic time zone you're in. I write this to you as the a.m. hours... [more]

65. Good Morning Hoops Nation: February 3 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 February 3, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- BracketBusters pairings are out, and we're temporarily reunited with our own bed and desktop computer, so it's a good time for a game reset. Who am I? Why am I here? Seventy-five percent of what The Mid-Majority is about during the regular season is analysis. There are check-ins o... [more]

66. Good Morning Hoops Nation: January 22 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 January 22, 2009 EMMITSBURG, Md. -- They call them the blues because of blue notes, those tones hidden in between the in-between places there on the pristine straight streets of the music scale. Each one of us has had the blues at one time or another, stuck in the gutter, the ditch, the rut, been down soooo loonnngg... [more]

67. Game! Of! The! Night! 1/10/2009: Lehigh at American by Kyle Whelliston

S5 January 9, 2009 Lehigh at American (Patriot League) Bender Arena - Washington, DC Saturday, 2:00 PM EST Looking back at the first two months of our fifth season here at TMM, we've only referenced the Patriot League in passing, if at all. There are reasons for that; things have changed over the years. The Formerly... [more]

68. Game! Of! The! Night! 1/8/2009: Wright State at Butler by Kyle Whelliston

S5 January 8, 2009 Wright State at Butler (Horizon League) Hinkle Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN 7:00 PM EST Tonight marks the first slate in which every college basketball game nationwide is a league contest. We have action in the CAA, SoCon, NEC, OVC, Horizon, America East, Sun Belt, Badlands Conference, Big West, ... [more]

69. Good Morning Hoops Nation: January 7 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 January 7, 2009 ATLANTA -- One of the upsides to spending so much time in basketball arenas is that my connection to popular music remains simple, true and direct. In this atmosphere, with athletic competition on the floor and fans demanding two hours' worth of entertainment, organized payola can't find purchase. I... [more]

70. Good Morning Hoops Nation: January 6 by Kyle Whelliston

S5 January 6, 2009 NASHVILLE -- A lot's happened in the past 48 hours. I've driven 1,450 miles through high Colorado mountain passes, endless Kansas, Oklahoma hailstorms. I've watched Southwest Airlines' careful domino-stack of hourly gate departures collapse under the weight of a weather delay, into a maelstrom of sc... [more]

71. Game! Of! The! Night! 12/30/2008: Cleveland State at Wright State by Kyle Whelliston

S5 December 30, 2008 Cleveland State at Wright State (Horizon League) Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST Teams in most conferences are just now finishing their city games, guarantees and D-II walkovers. Not the Horizon, it's gone full-bore into league season and has pretty much completed its quest for nat... [more]

72. Game! Of! The! Night! 12/6/2008: Albany at Siena by Kyle Whelliston

S5 December 5, 2008 Albany at Siena Times Union Center - Albany, NY 7:00 PM EST When you think great mid-major city games, there are matchups like Loyola and UIC in Chicago (also being contested on Saturday), or maybe the NEC's Battle of Brooklyn between St. Francis and Long Island. But don't forget a pairing with a ... [more]

73. Game! Of! The! Night! 12/2/2008: Valparaiso at Cleveland State by Kyle Whelliston

S5 December 2, 2008 Valparaiso at Cleveland State (Horizon League) H. J. Goodman Arena - Cleveland, OH 7:00 PM EST If you were to pick a better way to open the conference season (you know, by "random draw" and everything), you could do worse than the Horizon League. Tonight, the slate of parenthetical games begins wi... [more]

74. Game! Of! The! Night! 11/25/2008: Mount St. Mary's at George Mason by Kyle Whelliston

S5 November 25, 2008 Mount Saint Mary's at George Mason Patriot Center - Fairfax, VA 7:00 PM EST There's plenty of hot mid-on-mid action tonight. There's our game, for example, out in Bucknell as the Bison host Old Dominion, at which we'll all party like it's 2005. The best excuse for a city game in Boston takes place... [more]

75. Game! Of! The! Night! 11/24/2008: Miami (Oh.) at Wright State by Kyle Whelliston

S5 November 24, 2008 Miami (Oh.) at Wright State Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST You know that phrase, "Throw out the records?" It's such a clichÃ© that it's a Kenny Mayne clichÃ©, which means there's no farther it can go. But in mid-major college basketball, at this point of th... [more]

76. Dave and Busters by Kyle Whelliston

S4 March 21, 2008 O Wildcats, dispatchers of Zags, plain-sight stealers of ACC-level recruits! You play a fair game, you play a square game, and you win in everything! Davidson's red and black machine won its 23rd game in a row, but its first at the NCAA tournament since 1969, when ol' Lefty Driesell paced the Wildca... [more]

77. The Boubacar 3/13/2008 (Awards Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 March 13, 2008 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- I don't know if I'm ripping the cover off some secret clandestine something, or exposing some horrible underbelly of The Business here. But one of the best things about Championship Fortnight is the media gifts. Yes, many conferences bestow presents upon us ink- and pixel-sta... [more]

78. The Boubacar 3/12/2008 (Lost Seasons Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 March 12, 2008 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- As we promised earlier this week, we're going to take one last look at some seasons that may not have resulted in a Dance card or a lot of national headlines, but were breakthroughs or returns to form. Here, then, are eight teams that few saw coming... in alphabetical order. ... [more]

79. The Boubacar 3/6/2008 (Dromedary Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 March 6, 2008 NASHVILLE -- There's a little Fighting Camel in all of us -- that piece of our soul that's tragically misunderstood, a little out of place. It's the part of you that's told you'll never make it, never achieve your dreams. Silly camel, you aren't supposed to fight for or win anything... you're suppos... [more]

80. The Boubacar 3/3/2008 (Big Red Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 March 3, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The calendar does not deceive you, it's been March for two-plus days now and we haven't seen one conference tournament game. We'll take care of that tomorrow (the Big South, OVC and Horizon get underway), but this in-between day gives us a chance to catch our collective breath and... [more]

81. Game! Of! The! Night! 2/28/2008: Wright State at Butler by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 28, 2008 Wright State at Butler (Horizon League) Hinkle Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN 9:00 PM EST With the way the Horizon League race has shaped up, this could simply be the second of three dogfights between the Bulldogs and the Raiders (who are canines, you know). With a win at home here, Butler ... [more]

82. The Boubacar 2/28/2008 (Senior Night Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 28, 2008 WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- One of the great traditions in college basketball is Senior Night, the last home game of the regular season. All outgoing seniors, no matter if they were four-year starters with awards and all-league selections, or guys who played the parts of opposing players on the practi... [more]

83. The Boubacar 2/25/2008 (U Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 25, 2008 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Sometimes I just have to pinch myself (even though dreams can be complicated enough that I wouldn't wake up if I did). Three years ago, I was just another computer programmer with a college basketball blog, and the next thing I know I'm talking over BracketBusters highlights wit... [more]

84. The Boubacar 2/18/2008 (Network Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 18, 2008 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Plenty of folks have the day off for the holiday today, but we have a patriotic duty to provide you with a Supersized Boubacar that takes into account all the action from the weekend that was. We'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to share with you my most recent fantastic... [more]

85. Game! Of! The! Night! 2/13/2008: William & Mary at North Carolina-Wilmington by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 13, 2008 William & Mary at North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial) Trask Coliseum - Wilmington, NC 7:00 PM EST We'll be closely tracking the Rhode Island-Temple battle on the A-14's second tier, as well as the tough test for Drake at Southern Illinois, but tonight's G!O!T!N! spotlight falls on two... [more]

86. The Boubacar 2/8/2008 (LOLBally Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 8, 2008 CHICAGO -- We're holding off on announcing the winner of our Hunan: Return of the Phoenix movie contest, because there are two sterling entries that we're having trouble choosing between. Right now, we're in the process of sending them to friends and asking them to tell us which one makes them laugh... [more]

87. Game! Of! The! Night! 2/7/2008: Wright State at Cleveland State by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 7, 2008 Wright State at Cleveland State (Horizon League) H. J. Goodman Arena - Cleveland, OH 7:30 PM EST There are quite a few intriguing games out there in Hoops Nation on this Thursday. Western Kentucky takes a trip to North Texas' Super Pit to try and knock off the defensing Sun Belt champs -- ... [more]

88. The Travelogue: Chapter 14 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 7, 2008 Edible State I read somewhere once that nine out of ten new restaurants fail, that the crowded market and the high first-year costs conspire to ruin nearly all new ventures. This statistic, most assuredly, does not apply to Texas. On a warm late January night, wearing shirtsleeves, I cruised th... [more]

89. The Boubacar 2/2/2008 (Weekend Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 February 2, 2008 NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- If you've been reading along, you know how we feel about American-style football, which has its big over-bloated title game this weekend. The sport has come to define American maleness and took over the true title of "America's pastime" long ago -- not actually strapping the pa... [more]

90. The Boubacar 1/31/2008 (Misnomer Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 31, 2008 DENTON, Tex. -- While making the long drive up I-45, which is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about, I was pondering the names we give things. A lot of them don't quite fit, and bleed into general use because once people have agreed on a title for something, it's tough to get everybod... [more]

91. The Boubacar 1/28/2008 (Face Off Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 28, 2008 HOUSTON -- I was thinking over the weekend, while I wasn't at any games, about all the games I go to. A total of 57 games so far this year, headed for yet another 100-game season. Having done 100 twice now, it's tough to find triple-digit motivation anymore. Need to turn it into some kind of contest... [more]

92. The Boubacar 1/25/2008 (The Other Red Line Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 25, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I tried to make it simple, I tried to offer the sound-bite answer. I tried to simplify things on the far side of complexity, because 'tis a gift to be simple. But I attempted to shave with Occam's razor, but ended up having to wear a small piece of toilet paper, attached with spit... [more]

93. The Boubacar 1/24/2008 (Radio Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 24, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I never meant this to be Philosophy Week, and I apologize for all the thoughtful treatises on insignificance I've spilled recently. I'm going to blame it on jet lag, and leave it at that. I've made a key decision, and I post it here for you now primarily to point to it later once... [more]

94. The Travelogue: Chapter 12 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 20, 2008 Versus Local On the road, general well-being is a complicated mesh of karmic gears, all of which must be humming and whirring smoothly to ensure smooth runnings. For example, there's cop karma, rental car karma, WiFi karma, digestive karma and gas prices karma. Those are only a few. For two week... [more]

95. The Travelogue: Chapter 11 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 20, 2008 Fool People always seem so disappointed when the story isn't as simple as they apparently thought it was. In the eyes of some folks, I don't stand up to certain ideas of pure and perfect vagrancy. "You never stay in hotels? You just sleep in the car?" Actually, I stay in hotels on days off betw... [more]

96. The Travelogue: Chapter 10 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 13, 2008 This One's For The Valley This one's for the Valley, the Missouri Valley. This is a tribute to that switch of strong and landlocked America that only sees the sun an hour after the right coast does, whether Indiana saves daylight or not. Let the light shine from Lincoln's boyhood home to his lic... [more]

97. The State Of The Other 22, Week 7 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 January 2, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F... [more]

98. The Travelogue, Chapter 7 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 31, 2007 Food Ask any assistant coach in college basketball, they'll tell you that one of the toughest challenges with away games is food. Carefully prepared team meals are usually the rule at home, but the road is an endless and glowing ribbon of McDonald's, Burger King, convenience stores and casual dinin... [more]

99. The Boubacar 12/19/2007 (Dickie V Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 19, 2007 AKRON, Oh. -- There are so few of us... we who overanalyze everything about college basketball, pore over pages of stats, treat our game like a gigantic 341-piece puzzle that takes five months to solve itself. Our vision is distorted because we spend so much time talking to each other; we forget tha... [more]

100. Finals Week: The Answer Key by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 15, 2007 Thanks to the 168(!) people who played along with our second non-annual Mid-Majority Finals Week. That's so many people, they'd have to hold this class in one of those auditoriums where the professor doesn't know you from Samuel Haanpaa, where you have to spend five minutes of your six-minutes durin... [more]

101. Game! Of! The! Night! 12/15/2007: Miami (Oh.) at Wright State by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 14, 2007 Miami (Oh.) (MAC) at Wright State (Horizon) Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST As we ease back into post-exam hoops, that little bridge across the holidays towards conference season, we have two teams that won their respective leagues last year. Both teams play slow, bruising ... [more]

102. The Travelogue: Chapter 6 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 7, 2007 North Carolina When I'm covering a game, I always dress in a crisp shirt and a solid-color tie, usually a coat as well... just like the coaches do. It's important to look nice. (That's something I picked up from Andy Katz.) Those coaches, and sometimes other media members, will occasionally enga... [more]

103. Game! Of! The! Night! 12/6/2007: Valparaiso at Wright State by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 6, 2007 Valparaiso at Wright State (Horizon) Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST An embarrassment of small-conference league-game riches tonight. Among other contests, we've got Sacred Heart at CCSU in the NEC, ambitious Morehead State will take on league champs Austin Peay in the OVC... [more]

104. The Boubacar 12/6/2007 (Tasty Snaxx Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 6, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Good morning, Hoops Nation. I've been having a bunch of fun with our new database of officials over at Basketball State. We've got a white pages listing, rankings of fouls called by teams including each ref and average call margins on home teams, and maps of all the games your fav... [more]

105. The Travelogue: Chapter 5 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 3, 2007 Philadelphia Lift up your downcast eyes, woman; there is a special place in heaven for you. O truck stop waitress, you sustainer of the long-distance voyageur, Cinderella of the service industry, underfoot guardian and caretaker of the linoleum empire... one day, when you finally fall from your wea... [more]

106. The Boubacar 12/3/2007 (Hey! Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 December 3, 2007 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The "e" in e-mail was supposed to stand for "emproved" and "enstant." It was designed to be better than regular mail, because it would arrive there the second you sent it and you can feel confident enough in the system that every e-mail will be properly received. Sure, you can't ... [more]

107. The Boubacar 11/29/2007 (Pop Loser Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 November 29, 2007 HIGH POINT, N.C. -- In a world of Bill Simmons this and Dennis Miller that, there is no worse crime than blowing a pop culture reference. You know what I'm talking about. I think all of us, at one time, have tried to pass ourselves off as having seen a movie (by looking at the list of quotes on iMDB... [more]

108. The Boubacar 11/26/2007 (Supersize Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S4 November 26, 2007 BOONE, N.C. -- The problem with taking the holiday off from posting is that things happen, build up, force a gigantic Monday post. Here, then, is your long weekend in mid-major land. Saturday, November 24, 2007. After the pitch-blah of Black Friday came a sunburst of brightness, as hungry mids ove... [more]

109. The Mid-Majority Interview: Bill Trocchi by Kyle Whelliston

S4 November 23, 2007 I'll allow you a few minutes to put the pieces of your blown mind back together. Okay? Let's go. Big media rivalries, like college sports rivalries, are supposed to be predicated on the idea that the folks on the other side are filthy, writhing subhumans. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that t... [more]

110. The Travelogue: Chapter 3 by Kyle Whelliston

S4 November 19, 2007 Tennessee Morning cracks open over Middle Tennessee like a giant farm-fresh egg. It bastes the mini-mall in gooey yellow sunshine, washing over the giant fluorescent Shoe Carnival sign. The letters blink a few times, then they're drowned, extinguished for another day. The sun soaks the Bread Rest... [more]

111. Changes Around Here by Kyle Whelliston

S4 November 9, 2007 Once upon a time there was a tiny little cell, one among a million billion, sloshing and sliding inside a gigantic and vibrant and heaving body. The tiny little cell did its tiny little job as well as it tiny little could, and during its time off it had fun bouncing around with other tiny little lik... [more]

112. The Daily Paragraph 2/20/2007 (BracketBetter Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 February 20, 2007 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- We all love BracketBusters, and there's no denying that the event had a gigantic impact on the college basketball-o-sphere over the weekend. Southern Illinois was able to make a big road statement in a showcase game (a win at Butler that would have been 44-41 without all the fr... [more]

113. The Daily Paragraph 2/16/2007 (BracketBoosters Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 February 16, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS -- It's the eve of mid-majordom's national holiday, and for this fifth edition of the event we're getting the whole family involved. Yo dad, those repairs on the car can wait. There are 14 great televised mid-major matchups to watch! It's the perfect time to bring Junior onto the couc... [more]

114. The Daily Paragraph 2/9/2007 (iPod Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 February 9, 2007 DALLAS -- Big, big weekend in Hoops Nation. Huge. Make sure to check out these six big showdown/throwdown/hoedowns at the top of league tables this weekend. As a bonus, we're offering some sample pregame warmup music for your iPod, so you can truly get pumped up for these hot matchups. Holy Cross (... [more]

115. The Daily Paragraph 2/5/2007 (Football Independence Day Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 February 5, 2007 LOS ANGELES -- There are three important national holidays on the official calendar of Hoops Nation™. First and foremost in importance, of course, is Selection Sunday in March -- the day that the entire college basketball year leads up to. A second is coming up in a couple weeks: that glorious... [more]

116. The Daily Paragraph 1/30/2007 (BarbaroBusters Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 January 30, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Before we begin our supersized DP, I just want to share with you something I wrote yesterday. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fourth edition, 2004, published by Houghton Mifflin) defines the word "champion" as "One that wins first place or first prize in... [more]

117. The Daily Paragraph 1/22/2007 (Bandwagoneering Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 January 22, 2007 CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Lots to get to today, just like every Monday. And if you haven't signed up to play Bally's BracketBusters Racket yet, you have a lot more to get to than I do. Roll the HTML! The Big Games! at Virginia Commonwealth 80, Old Dominion 75 (Colonial) (box) -- The VCU Rams are the only... [more]

118. The Daily Paragraph 1/19/2007 (Surprise Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 January 19, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- No mailbag this week, because quite frankly most of the letters this week were way too personal. Look, I'm a basketball writer, when did my mortgage, my stock portfolio and my "size" suddenly become fair game? Oops, wrong mail folder. Anyway... Every year around this time, we sta... [more]

119. The Daily Paragraph 1/11/2007 (Free to Be, U. of Tree Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 January 11, 2007 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Let's begin today with dispatches from television's hottest mid-season replacement, "How Weird Was My Valley." Kyle, are the Sycamores really this good? This was a team that I thought would be with Illinois State at the bottom of The Valley, but they have a great RPI, and some ... [more]

120. The Daily Paragraph 11/28/2006 (Close Call Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 November 28, 2006 VALPARAISO, Ind. -- For every upset of a major program by a mid-major (and there have been 44 so far this season, as compared to 36 at this time a year ago), there's a tantalizing near-miss. Like last night at the venerable old Athletics and Recreation Center, where the Brown and Gold of Valpo nearl... [more]

121. The Daily Paragraph 11/20/2006 (Upset Stomach Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S3 November 20, 2006 PAWTUCKET, R.I. - By November 19, 2005, there had been 16 games in which a school from one of the eight major conferences had been beaten by a school from one of the 23 other D-I conferences*. [*Unnamed Major Program From the Northwest excluded] This year, on that date, there have been 26. This i... [more]

122. Epilogue, The Second by Kyle Whelliston

S2 April 9, 2006 INDIANAPOLIS, Apr. 2 -- There are huge signs all over town -- on airport walls, strung over streetlights, over the main gate to the RCA Dome. They all read, "The Road Ends Here." There's also a giant logo on the side of the 45,000-seat venue, a green and gold star with zag-zigging trailers that has... [more]

123. The Portrait of Kevin McHale by Kyle Whelliston

S2 December 26, 2005 Game 112: Maryland-Eastern Shore 59, at Brown 57 Tuesday, December 20, 2005 Pizzitola Sports Center - Providence, RI It's the kind of portrait that haunts you before you even look at it. The subject seems so familiar, so eerily familiar. Unadorned and untitled, the portrait has a Dorian Gray effe... [more]

124. MMBOD Dec 20: Tim Parham - Maryland-Eastern Shore by Kyle Whelliston

S2 December 21, 2005 When the second-leading scorer on the worst team in Division I announced his intention to test the NBA Draft waters, lots of folks said, "Are you serious?" Sure, the 6-9, 240 specimen attended a camp or two this spring, but Tim Parham was simply dreaming big. He just wanted to find out if he had any... [more]

125. The Anti-UMPFN by Kyle Whelliston

S2 December 2, 2005 Game 105: at Bucknell 87, Yale 60 Saturday, November 26, 2005 Sojka Pavilion - Lewisburg, PA There's a white sign that greets you when you drive onto their campus, a lush green acreage dotted by vermillion-brick buildings. "Welcome to", "http://schools.basketballstate.com/BUCK >Bucknell" it s... [more]

126. America East Wonk by Kyle Whelliston

S2 November 24, 2005 Game 103: Michigan 51, at Boston University 46 Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Agganis Arena - Boston, MA (with full and absolute apologies to John Gasaway) Wednesday, November 23, 2005 Is There A Triaminic For Coughing Up the Ball? Michigan beat Boston University 51-46 last night at the gleaming... [more]

127. The Syracuse Bracket by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 16, 2005 Oakland Seed: 16 1st Round Opponent: North Carolina Record: 13-18 (9-9 Mid-Continent) Big Nonconference Wins: December 30 vs. Bowling Green (77-53); it was their only non-league win over a D1 opponent. Key Players: Pierre Dukes (see below) is the folk hero, but senior forwards Rawle Marshall and Co... [more]

128. The Chicago Bracket by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 16, 2005 Fairleigh Dickinson Seed: 16 1st Round Opponent: Illinois Record: 20-12 (16-5 Northeast Conference) Big Nonconference Wins: December 9 at eventual MAAC two-seed Rider (76-74) 100 Games Project Appearances: #65 Key Players: Big Gordon Klaiber and little Tamien Trent are the inside-outside mechanism ... [more]

129. Nostradumbass by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 14, 2005 In the heat of the postseason, it's easy for people to quickly sweep their preseason conference picks under the rug. What? Huh? I picked Princeton? Look over there, a birdie! But not this one; I face my failures head-on. For your amusement, here are my picks from late December. Note that I had an e... [more]

130. Tourney Central 3/10/2005 by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 10, 2005 Bullet Points Two more Dance tickets were printed and punched last night: Fairleigh-Dickinson out of the NEC, and Montana from the Big Sky. Defending champion Florida A&M was ousted from the MEAC tournament. After a last-second bracket reshuffling due to three forfeited games, the SWAC gets it ... [more]

131. Missed Connection by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 3, 2005 Game 069: at Harvard 80, Brown 68 Saturday, February 26, 2005 Lavietes Pavilion - Cambridge, MA Last Saturday evening, I was scheduled to meet a fellow blogger and college basketball enthusiast for a game. We've been blog-buddies for several years now, but this would have had been my first in-perso... [more]

132. Where Are We Running? by Kyle Whelliston

S1 March 2, 2005 Game 067: at Harvard 82, Yale 66 Friday, February 26, 2005 Lavietes Pavilion - Cambridge, MA If each basketball team's season is like a single lifetime, then Ivy League hoops must be a lot like life. There are good days and bad days, zero second chances and absolutely no do-overs. And if you were ... [more]

133. Dribblings 2/24/2005 (What Went Wrong? Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 February 24, 2005 Mid-American: Akron 55, Miami (Oh.) 49 (OT) (story) - Six-four RedHawk guard Chet Mason had the game of his life, with 23 points and 15 rebounds... but as the sportswriters like to say, it was not enough. Despite sending the game to overtime on a last-second three by William Hatcher, Miami (17-1, 11... [more]

134. Dribblings 2/23/2005 (Justify My Thug Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 February 23, 2005 Mid-Continent: Missouri-Kansas City 77, Oral Roberts 70 (story) - In front of a roaring partisan paid attendance of 7,132, UMKC (15-9, 11-2 MidCon) held off the visitors in what the Kansas City Star pegged as "the most important game in its 18-year Division I era." After a seesaw opening to the seco... [more]

135. Dribblings 2/13-14/2005 (Hot Lovin' Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 February 14, 2005 So it turns out that Hot Sh*t Saturday was a great success. Six games, all good. Thrillers, comebacks, overtime, great shooting, great defense... HSS had something for everyone. Let's review: Big West: Pacific 64, Utah State 63 (story) - With 31 seconds left, homestanding Utah State was leading 61-... [more]

136. Run by Kyle Whelliston

S1 February 2, 2005 Game 047: at Pennsylvania 83, Brown 60 Saturday, January 29, 2005 The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA When stripped to its essence, the object of our game is to score more points than the opposition. When the contest is over, the point totals of the two competing teams are compared, then the officials ... [more]

137. Dribblings 1/31/2005 (Media Timeout Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 31, 2005 Mid-American: Miami (Oh.) 74, Akron 63 (story) - It was a bonus Shakedown Saturday game that happened to fall on Sunday. The RedHawks of Miami were up by 20 and had the game well in hand going into the final five minutes, but the zippy Zips zipped off an 18-1 run to cut the lead to four. In a rare g... [more]

138. Ace's Ivy Insights! by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 29, 2005 Game 044: Brown 57, at Princeton 52 Friday, January 28, 2005 Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ All well-earned due respect to the National Invitation Tournament, but you won't find a more boisterous bracket than the septuple-elimination slate in the Ancient Eight! "Ace" Whelliston here, follower of the ... [more]

139. This Is Our House by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 26, 2005 Game 041: Pennsylvania 67, St. Joseph's 59 Tuesday, January 26, 2005 The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA Let me tell you, those 27-game road trips are the worst. It seems like I've been traveling forever, hopping from arena to arena on my silly little quest to see a hundred college basketball games bef... [more]

140. Ring-A-Ding Binghamton by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 18, 2005 Game 034: New Hampshire 69, at Binghamton 60 Sunday, January 17, 2005 Events Center - Binghamton, NY In my youth, Binghamton was more of a concept than an actual place. My New York Rangers had their farm team there once, and the place seemed like a magical blue fog from which hockey players would a... [more]

141. The Bus Team by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 15, 2005 Game 032: at Loyola (Md.) 70, Canisius 68 Friday, January 14, 2005 Reitz Arena - Baltimore, MD In olden times, back when there was no Mid-Majority to be the Official anything of, the lady who would one day become the Official Wife™ and I did the commuting-couple thing the hard way. So as to s... [more]

142. Dribblings 1/4/2005 (Topsy-Turvy Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 4, 2005 Mid-Continent: Missouri-Kansas City 77, IUPUI 61 (story) - If anyone's going to catch Oral Roberts in the Mid-Con this year it's IUPUI, who made a name for themselves (errr, make that an acronym for themselves) by going to the Tournament in 2003, then coming five points short last year. UMKC, whose ... [more]

143. Coffee Break by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 4, 2005 Game 025: at Providence 79, Brown 63 Monday, January 3, 2005 Dunkin' Donuts Center - Providence, Rhode Island A few weeks back, I was catching up with an old aquaintance from my days out at Oregon. He was telling me about this wedding he went to last summer in western Massachusetts. I was made to u... [more]

144. Big Time! (I'm On My Way, I'm Making It) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 January 4, 2005 Game 024: Boston University 72, at Albany 69 Sunday, January 2, 2005 Recreation and Convocation Center - Albany, New York When you play college hoops on your PlayStation or XBox, you have the option to enter something called "legacy mode." As you take the reins of a bottom-feeding school and try to... [more]

145. Dribblings 12/31/2004 (Not-So-Fearless Prediction Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 31, 2004 Missouri Valley: IIlinois State 62, Southwest Missouri State 61 (story) - I apologize in advance if this site goes through January and February stretches where it seems like the All-Valley Blog, but this league is going to be red-hot. Illinois State (8-3, 1-1 MVC) is rising Phoenix-like from a disas... [more]

146. Dribblings 12/28/2004 (Holiday Hoops Edition) by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 28, 2004 Iona 77, Rhode Island 62 (story) - URI has made two straight trips to the NIT, but their 1-7 start must be reminding fans of the bleak three seasons that constituted the post-Lamar Odom era. "Murphy's Rams" just can't seem to score points or catch a break this year. In addition to losing 23 points p... [more]

147. Cries For Help by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 23, 2004 Game 019: at Villanova 86, Albany 72 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 The Pavilion - Villanova, PA I just found your story about the Nova vs. Fordham game on the Rivals board. Congratulations. You're living proof that any egotistical, misinformed jackass with a computer and an internet connection can s... [more]

148. Finals Week, Part I: History by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 14, 2004 Welcome to Mid-Majority Finals Week) are suffering through final examinations, we're taking advantage of the dearth of ballgames this week to offer an exciting mid-major quiz. And fill blog space. So here's the deal. For the next four days, I'll be posting four ten-question quizzes about various as... [more]

149. Are You There, Hawk? It's Me, Kyle by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 5, 2004 Game 013: Drexel 57, St. Joseph's 49 Saturday, December 4, 2004 The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA Dear Mr. or Ms. St. Joseph's Hawk, Hello. How are you doing? I hope you don't mind that I'm participating in the ridiculous tradition by writing a "concept" piece in the form of a published open letter,... [more]

150. (How Not To Officiate) Patriot Games by Kyle Whelliston

S1 December 2, 2004 Game 010: at Pennsylvania 65, Bucknell 52 Wednesday, December 1, 2004 The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA As anyone who goes to one of its affiliated schools (or anyone who's read The Last Amateurs) can tell you, the Patriot League was created primarily to give Ivy League schools some early-season foot... [more]

151. It's Showtime At The Apollo by Kyle Whelliston

S1 November 20, 2004 Game 005: Auburn 80, at Temple 78 Friday, November 19, 2004 Liacouras Center - Philadelphia, PA I never attended Temple University. It was a close call, though - when I moved to Philadelphia back in 1997, I looked long and hard at TU as a transfer option. I mean, it's a great school. But my girlfri... [more]

152. So Fresh, So Clean by Kyle Whelliston

S1 November 17, 2004 Game 002: Pennsylvania 74, Quinnipiac 60 Tuesday, November 16, 2004 The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA A couple of weeks ago, the Official Wife Of The Mid-Majority and I were out a-walking hand-in-hand across the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. We paused to admire the blocky brick facade of ... [more]

153. 100: The Impossible Dream by Kyle Whelliston

S1 November 9, 2004 One Sunday afternoon in early February, I found myself sitting in a cold, half-empty gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. I was watching Rider and Loyola - two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's perennial doormats - fall all over each other. It was halftime, and the two squads had barely... [more]

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