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1. The End, Part 2 by Bob Fisch
S8 March 21, 2012 Game #8-781: Buffalo Bulls at American EaglesMarch 14, 2012 8:30 pmBender ArenaBBState Stats/RecapI spent a lot of time trying to decide whether or not to attend the first round CIT game between American and Buffalo. My last game, two weeks earlier, more or less served as my epilogue on my #800GP ex... [more]
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| S8 March 18, 2012 Game #8-775: Buffalo Bulls at Oakland Golden GrizzliesMarch 17, 2012 3:00 pmAthletics & Recreation CenterBBState Stats/RecapAfter two consecutive twelve-hour days in front of the TV, I decided that I needed to take a road trip on Saturday and take in another game for the 800 Games Project. After sca... [more] |
| S8 March 12, 2012 Game #8-751: Ohio Bobcats vs. Buffalo BullsMarch 9, 2012 9:30 pmCleveland, OHBBState Stats/RecapThe MAC Player of the Year did all that he could to keep the #2 seed Buffalo Bulls in the second semi-final game of the MAC Tournament. But, in the end, it just wasn't enough, as the #3 seed OH... [more] |
| S8 March 4, 2012 Game #8-680: Buffalo Bulls at Akron ZipsFebruary 29, 2012 7:00 pmJames A. Rhodes ArenaBBState Stats/RecapI apologize for getting this recap up so late. It wasn’t until yesterday until I had totally gotten over the outcome of this game, which you’ll see why in my next post. As an unabashed ... [more] |
| S8 January 22, 2012 Game #8-432: Buffalo Bulls at Bowling Green FalconsJanuary 21, 2012 4:00 pmAnderson ArenaBBState Stats/RecapFor the second straight home game, the Falcons lost a last-second heartbreaker. It is extremely disappointing ... you turn those two around and this team is 4-1 and we're feeling really good. ... [more] |
| S8 November 21, 2011 Game #8-079: Buffalo Bulls at Princeton TigersNovember 19, 2011 12:30 pmJadwin GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapPrinceton’s Jadwin Gymnasium has a colorful history. It was built in 1965 as a body shop for dented and dinged B-52s. It was named for Col. Gustavus ‘Goose’ Jadwin, a dutiful and charismatic mi... [more] |
| S7 March 25, 2011 SAN ANTONIO -- In March of 2005, during the original 100 Games Project, I felt like it couldn't hurt to ask. I called up Brian McCann, the sports information director at Cleveland State, a school that was organizing an NCAA subregional at the Wolstein Center. I explained that I ran a website about c... [more] |
| S7 March 19, 2011 [14] Indiana State Sycamores vs. [3] Syracuse OrangeMarch 18, 2011 9:57 pmCleveland, OHBBState Stats/Recap Thousands of Big Blue fans -- the real Big Blue -- made the trip up from Terre Haute to spend all night in Quicken Loans Arena and watch their Valley champs go down to Big Orange. And they all... [more] |
| S7 March 13, 2011 If college basketball has taught us anything, it's that there's nothing that becomes irrelevant more suddenly than Championship Fortnight. Once the NCAA Tournament bracket is released, the previous two weeks slip into history... very quickly. But one thing that has to be remembered: the teams that w... [more] |
| 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] |
| S7 March 11, 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 PointsThere were no ... [more] |
| S7 March 10, 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 PointsCongratulati... [more] |
| S7 March 9, 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 PointsThree more cha... [more] |
| S7 March 9, 2011 Princeton Tigers at Pennsylvania QuakersMarch 8, 2011 7:00 pmThe PalestraBBState Stats/Recap The final conference regular season game in the country, one of the most ancient and storied rivalries in Hoops Nation. A lot on the line, too. Princeton wins to force an Ivy playoff against Harvard at Yal... [more] |
| S7 March 8, 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 PointsCongratulation... [more] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| S7 February 18, 2011 Southern Utah Thunderbirds at IUPUI JaguarsFebruary 17, 2011 7:00 pmThe JungleBBState Stats/Recap Bally goes college, the most Caucasian And 1 Mixtape Tour stop ever, Badlands swimming and diving, Mid-Con Appreciation Night, and a return to the scene of an old temp job. @midmajority Game Tweets18... [more] |
| 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] |
| S7 February 10, 2011 Your Last Man Live entries were quite enjoyable to read. I also got a kick out of trying to figure out who the Conduit was and following the #LastMan and #FindLastMan twitter hashtags. Congrats on making it past day two anyways.- FrankPROVIDENCE, R.I. -- And so after two days, 11 hours, 23 minutes... [more] |
| 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] |
| S7 February 3, 2011 Today is National Pixelvision Day, and the festivities will last from 7 pm ET to after midnight. If you'd like to get involved, shuttle down. PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- An old hippie once proclaimed that information wants to be free. He was a publisher whose bound publication eventually folded. Me, I thi... [more] |
| S7 January 31, 2011 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all the announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the... [more] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| S7 January 11, 2011 CHICAGO -- America has one more month in its ongoing annual quest to figure out how to allow violence to thrive in tightly-controlled, non-contaminated petri dishes. But as you might have heard, last night marked the conclusion of the Ugly Season. For those of you just joining us this year, we sav... [more] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
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31. Pep Rally! by Kyle Whelliston
S6 March 31, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS -- The sky above was blue, the concrete below was grey, and Butler fans streamed into Monument Circle to celebrate their team's return home to play in the Final Four. Bally and I headed downtown to see what all the fuss was about! The players and coaches weren't there (they were in cl... [more]
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32. Little Picture by Kyle Whelliston
S6 March 20, 2010
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the big picture, the really big picture, it doesn't mean much at all. It's a basketball show. This is entertainment for rich people, a diversion for any remaining members of the American middle class with disposable time. The performers are judged on whether their effort ple... [more]
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| S6 March 19, 2010 As is annual NCAA tradition, we're displaying the overall athletic and men's basketball budget numbers in the mid-vs.-major games. Just like money can buy you a better car or house, it can also buy you a better basketball team. Having large resources allows a program to keep its coaches, recruit a 1... [more] |
| S6 March 5, 2010 NOTE: The Hoops National will only cover regular-season games for the remainder of the week. Big Games Atlantic 14: at Richmond 60, Dayton 56 RICH - 23-7 (12-3) [RPI: 30, State: 32] UD - 19-10 (8-7) [RPI: 41, State: 51] Star of the Game: Kevin Anderson 22 Pts (6-14 FG, 9-10 FT) Spiders Finish 14... [more] |
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35. My School: Ohio by Matthew Pentz
S6 February 25, 2010 Traveling into Athens, OH from the west along Route 33 -- or from any direction for that matter -- is a bleak drive. It's a town set in the middle of nowhere, founded with big dreams of becoming a gateway into the Northwest Territory. The trip in takes you through a series of towns that inspire id... [more]
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| S6 February 25, 2010 Big Games Atlantic 14: at Temple 49, Dayton 41 TU - 23-5 (11-2) [RPI: 13, State: 21] UD - 18-9 (7-6) [RPI: 43, State: 51] Star of the Game: Lavoy Allen 9 Pts (3-8 FG, 3-5 FT), 17 Reb #18/20 Men's Basketball Tied For First In A-14 With 49-41 Win Over Dayton - PHILADELPHIA – Sophomore Ramo... [more] |
| S6 February 11, 2010 Big Games Atlantic 14: Richmond 69, at Rhode Island 67 RICH - 19-6 (8-2) [RPI: 31, State: 39] URI - 19-4 (7-3) [RPI: 14, State: 25] Star of the Game: David Gonzalvez 19 Pts (7-12 FG, 2-3 FT), 2 Stl Surging Spiders Grind Out Road Win At Rhody, Move Into A-14 First-Place Tie - KINSTON, R.I. - Dav... [more] |
| S6 February 10, 2010 Colonial: at George Mason 82, Virginia Commonwealth 77 (OT) GMU - 16-9 (11-3) [RPI: 132, State: 104] VCU - 17-6 (9-5) [RPI: 49, State: 41] Star of the Game: Michael Morrison 18 Pts (8-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 10 Reb Men's Basketball Rallies Late, Downs VCU in Overtime - Cam Long hit a pair of free throws ... [more] |
| S6 February 2, 2010 College Hoops... by the Numbers! Last night, Jackson State held off Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the G!O!T!N! by a 72-67 count, stifling the Golden Lions' second-half comeback from out of a 17-point halftime hole. The Tigers withstood disqualifications on fouls to nearly their entire starting five, to ... [more] |
| S5 March 20, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS -- There's no day more exciting and more highly anticipated than First Round Thursday, and there's no 12 hours quite as difficult to get through. As soon as the games begin, the NCAA Tournament teaches a hard lesson about the perfection that's necessary to compete against enemies with mo... [more] |
| S5 March 16, 2009 Bullet Points Stephen F. Austin punched Hoops Nation's final NCAA Tournament ticket Sunday afternoon, its first appearance ever. Championship Fortnight is over, and the national postseason is just ahead. Completed brackets and scores for all 23 TMM leagues are included below. Southland Texas... [more] |
| S5 March 15, 2009 Bullet Points Seven championships were awarded on Saturday. Binghamton won its first-ever America East title; Morgan State is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever out of the MEAC. Temple repeated as Atlantic 14 champions; Akron is on the Big Bracket for the first time since 1986. Alabam... [more] |
| S5 March 14, 2009 Bally had an exciting first week of playoff action, visiting the Atlantic Sun, Missouri Valley and Sun Belt. But was he tired after all that fun? Absolutely not! Bally can't be stopped, he's going all the way to the hoop! Here are some highlights from his stops in Texas and Ohio for the Sun Belt an... [more] |
| S5 March 14, 2009 Bullet Points American won its second consecutive Patriot League championship, and is on to the NCAA Tournament once again. Dayton and Xavier, the two higher seeds, went down in the Atlantic 14 semifinals; this sets up an improbable 4/7 matchup between Temple and Duquesne. Other semifinal w... [more] |
| S5 March 13, 2009 Bullet Points One championship to be decided this afternoon: that of the Patriot League, which has been winnowing down its field verrrry slowly since Tuesday, March 3rd. The Atlantic 14, MEAC, MAC, Big West, Southland, SWAC and WAC are down to final fours as the last weekend of Championship Fo... [more] |
| 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] |
| S5 March 12, 2009 Bullet Points Two more titlists after last night's action. Portland State defended its Big Sky title, and Robert Morris will return to the NCAA Tournament out of the Northeast Conference. The Southland Conference begins today with quarterfinals in Katy, Tex.. It's the last of our 23 conference... [more] |
| S5 March 10, 2009 Bullet Points Four more champions were crowned last night, teams that will automatically continue on to the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations to Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial), Siena (Metro Atlantic), Chattanooga (SoCon) and Gonzaga (West Coast). Three autobids will be granted tonight: the Su... [more] |
| S5 March 9, 2009 HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Our year is a blur of quick-cut transitions: from total silence to Midnight Madness, pre-season to regular season, games outside conferences to games inside parentheses. Standings grids give way to brackets, and before you know it, campaigns are cut short in early elimination ro... [more] |
| S5 March 7, 2009 Bullet Points Cornell became the first school to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. For the second straight year, the Big Red claimed the Ivy League title, beating Penn 83-59. The upsets began in earnest on Friday. Ohio Valley No. 4 Morehead State took out No. 1 Tennessee-Martin. CAA No.... [more] |
| S5 March 5, 2009 NASHVILLE -- You might recall that there was a marathon chat announced to be held Friday (tomorrow) from the Valley quarterfinals. Due to a number of factors, that's being postponed. Instead, we'll try for a 12-hour chat next Thursday, and do a regular chat at 3:00 EST tomorrow that will overlap wit... [more] |
| S5 February 23, 2009 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- BracketBusters VII is safely in the history books now. It was more fulfilling than a Dave & Buster's appetizer (six chips do not qualify as "nachos"), and fell somewhere between Buster the crash-test dummy and Buster Bluth on the entertainment scale. Longtime readers will r... [more] |
| S5 February 21, 2009 So here we are again, it's late February and it's time for Mid-Major Christmas... BracketBusters VII, brought to you locally by Flying J Travel Plazas and Ballito's Powdered Horchata. Here's a handy clip-n'-save list of all Saturday's televised games, with links to handy print-n'-collect Basketball ... [more] |
| S5 February 20, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a somewhat 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th... [more] |
| S5 February 12, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a kinda-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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F... [more] |
| S5 February 11, 2009 LITTLE ROCK -- Just one more day until that whole Mock Selection thing, and we're still chewing over this wonderful binder full of information. After decades of hearing this or that from NCAA representatives every March, it's nice to see this stuff printed in black and white. From a 7,000-foot persp... [more] |
| S5 February 6, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a gracefully-aging 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three o... [more] |
| S5 February 5, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Let's get this out of the way first: when the first place team loses to the last place team, it's definitely not good for the league profile. And when the overwhelming preseason favorite takes one in the collective stomach from a team that long ago unanimously passed a team rule b... [more] |
| S5 February 3, 2009 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 51 announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the ... [more] |
| S5 January 30, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a sorta-newish 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th... [more] |
| S5 January 26, 2009 OMAHA -- You know what I don't understand? Hubris. How anybody could believe that they're the center of the universe, or better than everybody else, or the owner of unassailable opinion, has always been beyond my comprehension. Walking the world demands humility, and is full of reminders why our liv... [more] |
| S5 January 23, 2009 Niagara at Siena (Metro Atlantic) Times Union Center - Albany, NY Saturday, 12:00 PM EST One of the most honored traditions on this site is to spread the G!O!T!N! goodness around. Focusing on a small group of teams is what the traditionalists do, but TMM likes to keep things as complicated as poss... [more] |
| S5 January 22, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a sorta newish 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of th... [more] |
| S5 January 21, 2009 David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens PHILADELPHIA -- It was written nearly 30 years ago, but "Once In a Lifetime" remains the most concise four-minute statement on modern humanity that rock musicians have ever come up with. There are two mantras and a zen koan within it but at its l... [more] |
| S5 January 14, 2009 Steely Dan - Kulee Baba (demo) INDIANAPOLIS -- In 1980, Steely Dan released Gaucho, a seven-song album full of disco-jazz pop songs about getting laid and drugs and revenge, all set in Los Angeles. All three are popular enough themes that the record went double-platinum. Due to various production pr... [more] |
| S5 January 13, 2009 Northern Illinois at Ball State (Mid-American) Worthen Arena - Muncie, IN 7:00 PM EST I've probably said this before, but if you're a mid-major conference and you're smart, schedule games on Tuesday nights and Sunday afternoons. (And Friday nights, if your geographic footprint is small enough that... [more] |
| S5 January 7, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a new-ish 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the Fin... [more] |
| S5 December 31, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the Final F... [more] |
| S5 December 31, 2008 LOGAN, Utah -- It's the final day of the year, the end of the holidays, and a bad day to buy a calendar (they'll be 50 percent off tomorrow). Here in college basketball world, the ringing out of the old has more to do with crossing the bridge between nonconference and league play -- happily so -- an... [more] |
| S5 December 30, 2008 LOGAN, Utah -- Yesterday's GMHN closed with a query to the cosmos as to why there will be nearly 300 fewer mid versus major games in 2008-09 than there were in 2007-08. And when I end a daily post with a question, I should expect that my mailbox will contain a few answers. And they arrived! Response... [more] |
| S5 December 17, 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F... [more] |
| S5 December 10, 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F... [more] |
| S5 December 5, 2008 SOMEWHERE IN MISSOURI -- Our Ultimate Project contest ends today -- or rather, the first phase of it. There were so many great entries (over 40) that I personally can't decide on who The Mid-Majority's No. 1 work-in-progress big man should be. So we are going to put it to you, gentle readers. The fi... [more] |
| S5 December 4, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a 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 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the Final Four ... [more] |
| S5 November 19, 2008 PHILADELPHIA -- This blog has been involved in several pet causes... heck, this entire thing is a pet cause. But TMM is getting involved in a new charitable campaign that strikes to the heart of what's important in Our Game. This is all about getting Drexel students to adopt proper rollout procedure... [more] |
| S4 March 21, 2008 BIRMINGHAM -- On mornings like this, after days like that, I'm envious of people who can simply move on with their brackets and think about the next round's matchups. For those of us who cover the mid-major schools, we'll be reliving this day over and over again for the next year. The true underdo... [more] |
| S4 March 17, 2008 Bullet Points In the final final in mid-majordom, Texas-Arlington emerged as surprise Southland champs. All hail! We had 78 entries into our "guess-the-play-in-matchup" contest on Saturday, and not a single correct answer. The correct pairing, as we all know now, is Coppin State (MEAC) against Moun... [more] |
| S4 March 14, 2008 Bullet Points No autobids given out on Thursday, but high seeds fell like falling things. Texas-Arlington showed No. 2 Lamar the door in the Southland quarterfinals. In the Atlantic 14, No. 6 Charlotte defeated No. 3 UMass, and there was a six-over-three in the SWAC, as Arkansas-Pine Bluff dumped A... [more] |
| S4 March 13, 2008 Bullet Points Make way on the big bracket for two more mid-major champions: Mount Saint Mary's, surprise winners of the NEC out of a No. 4 seed, and Portland State, double-champions of the Big Sky. There were three exciting finishes in the Atlantic 14, with La Salle, Dayton and Charlotte pulling ou... [more] |
| S4 March 12, 2008 Bullet Points Three more automatic bids were awarded last night. Full 100 percent congratulations to Butler, double-champions of the Horizon League, as well as Oral Roberts, three-time titlists of the Mid-Con cum Summit cum Badlands Conference. Western Kentucky is back in the Dance from the Sun B... [more] |
| S4 February 20, 2008 BOCA RATON, Fla. -- We've been mentioning the Atlantic Sun prominently this season, what with all the early upsets and Belmont's run at a third straight title and all, but we haven't talked much about its most improved team. Stetson has never achieved the NCAA Tournament since Glenn Wilkes (552 wins... [more] |
| S4 February 6, 2008 As is tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 50 announced BracketBusters matchups. Mostly because we know that it's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the schools after ESPN unleashes the televised matchups. T... [more] |
| S4 January 30, 2008 The grand old Mid-American Conference has been tragically misunderstood this decade. A league that's produced some of the most competitive, exciting and thrilling hoops at the mid-major level has had a lot of trouble with respect on the national scene, not having received a second bid to the NCAA To... [more] |
| S4 January 30, 2008 HUNTSVILLE, Tex. -- We promised you a Badlands Conference logo winner, and by gosh, we are going to deliver. Finally. After three weeks. We were looking for a logo to replace the up-arrow that the former Mid-Continent Conference chose when it changed its name over the summer. We don't particularly ... [more] |
| S4 January 14, 2008 CHARLESTON, S.C. -- It's Monday, which means no cutesy-cutesy, no how-do-ya-do, no warm-up act jokes. Nearly every one of the 245 teams in Hoops Nation played over the weekend, and we're totally committed to mention at least two percent of those. It's all basketball today. Drake. No leading score... [more] |
| 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] |
| S4 January 8, 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] |
| 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] |
| S4 November 15, 2007 Gardner-Webb (Atlantic Sun) vs. Connecticut (Big East) Madison Square Garden - New York, NY (Neutral) - Coaches vs. Cancer Tourney Semifinals 7:00 PM EST This will be the first of two shots at the Huskies that Rick Scruggs and his Kentucky-conquering heroes will get, the other coming up at... [more] |
| S3 March 19, 2007 In light of this great WaPo article about relative quality of hotels in the NCAA tournament's first weekend, might as well bring out the dist-o-meter again. How far from home did the committee send teams? (Distances are from campus to city center) (East 11) George Washington -- 2372 mi. to Sacramen... [more] |
| S3 March 12, 2007 Bullet Points http://schools.basketballstate.com/TAMCC class=optn>Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won the Southland final, and Championship Fortnight has come to a close. It's Tournament Time! The Last Bracket All brackets on the Bracket City page have been replaced with the completed versions. ... [more] |
| S3 March 8, 2007 Bullet Points Central Connecticut State from the NEC is going dancing, and so is Weber State of the Big Sky. Both are double champions of their respective leagues, and both just plain rock. No autobids tonight. Deep breath... No surprises in the MAC quarters, or the SWAC and MEAC early rounds, but ... [more] |
| S3 March 7, 2007 Bullet Points Wright State are double-champions of the Horizon League, having beaten a Butler team that's been all up in the national grill this season. Do you take the Raiders seriously yet? Oral Roberts, repeat double champions of the mighty mighty Mid-Con, and North Texas has claimed the champion... [more] |
| S3 February 22, 2007 CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Before we get too wrapped up in Championship Week this and NCAA Tournament that, in seeding whichever and Billy Packer whatever, I'd like to take time out to offer a small tribute to some special people. This is a tribute to the 508 fans who attended last night's Division I ga... [more] |
| 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] |
| S3 January 31, 2007 Here, then, are all the pairings for BracketBusters 2007. You can click on a matchup to learn more about the two teams and how they, well, match up. Albany at Boise State (TV) Appalachian State at Wichita State (TV) http://bbstate.com/games/66467>Austin Peay at Akron http://bbstate.com/games/664... [more] |
| 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] |
| S3 January 12, 2007 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Mid-majors are often the Scrappy-Doos of college basketball (Let me at'im! Let me at'im!), which is probably part of the reason they're so annoying to major schools. But I disavow any such implied connection -- I hated that character as much as you did. Generally, I had a lot o... [more] |
| S3 December 22, 2006 BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- First, a few noteworthy results from the past couple of days, and after that a couple of quick mailbags. Delaware State 65, at Buffalo 62 Yo, Andy! A win at Buffalo is good, especially if you're from the MEAC! The Hornets shot 63%, and won despite the fact that Buffalo outrebo... [more] |
| 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] |
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101. 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]
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| S2 February 8, 2006 There hasn't been too much of a reason to mention David Letterman U. in this space so far -- the Cardinals have really struggled to find points (62.3 PF, 42.8% FG) and have slumped to a 4-8 league record, continuing a slow and sad decline for a program that used to contend for the MAC title year in ... [more] |
| S2 November 18, 2005 Happy new season! In amidst tonight's sea of 25-point blowouts, made-for-TV dramas and vague semi-regional rivalries: an intriguing MAC-MAAC city game. Mid-American finalist Buffalo moves forward without league POY Turner Battle, and desperately needs a heart transplant. Early donor pick: last year'... [more] |
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104. 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]
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105. The Austin Bracket by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 16, 2005 Delaware State
Seed: 16
1st Round Opponent: Duke Record: 19-13 (17-4 Mid-Eastern)
Big Nonconference Wins: A 71-56 win in November versus Jackson State (14-17, 10-9 SWAC) in Las Vegas will have to do.
100 Games Project Appearances: #29, #52
Key Players: You won't find a more unselfish crew in the ... [more]
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106. Coming Of Age by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 15, 2005 Game 093: (4) Ohio 80, (7) Buffalo 79 (OT)
Mid-American Championship
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Gund Arena - Cleveland, OH
The gauntlet was thrown down the night before. During a timeout contest sponsored by a regional chain of grocers, a pale young man named Hans stepped out onto the Gund Arena ... [more]
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107. Bracket City USA by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 14, 2005 MAC, Knifed: A lot of watercooler talk this morning is and will be centered around the Mid-American Conference, more specifically the lack of at-large teams from such. Even Dickie V, who was born on Exit 16W but made his coaching hay in the MAC's geographical sphere of influence, was all over the c... [more]
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108. Arena by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 13, 2005 Game 092: (7) Buffalo 75, (3) Western Michigan 68
Mid-American Semifinals
Friday, March 11, 2005
Gund Arena - Cleveland, OH
There's only so much humanity a person can take. If your heart bled for every panhandler's tale of woe, each wide-eyed island child in need of financial sponsorship, all vic... [more]
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| S1 March 13, 2005 Bullet Points Six more teams are in: Vermont (America East), Ohio (MAC), UTEP (WAC), Delaware State (MEAC), George Washington (A-10), and Utah State (Big West). Championship Week concludes today with a pair of games: the SWAC and Southland finals. It's Selection Sunday, the holiest day of the colle... [more] |
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110. The Fantastic Five by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 13, 2005 T1. Southern Illinois, Missouri Valley (23-10, 13-7 MWC, 18 RPI) Chicago 7
T1. Nevada, Western Athletic (24-6, 16-3 WAC, 33) Chicago 9
3. Pacific, Big West (26-3, 19-1 BWC, 22) Albuquerque 8
4. Miami (Oh.), Mid-American (19-10, 13-7 MAC, 43) 5. St. Mary's, Western Athletic (25-8, 12-4 WCC, 30) Chica... [more]
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| S1 March 12, 2005 Bullet Points Congratulations to Bucknell, orange-clad kings of the Patriot League. Eight-seed Boise State continued to rip through the WAC bracket, knocking off Fresno State one day after dispatching 1 Nevada. Today marks the grand crescendo of the mid-major season. With finals in the America East... [more] |
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112. Rags by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 12, 2005 Game 087: (7) Buffalo 85, (2) Toledo 72
Mid-American Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Gund Arena - Cleveland, OH
October is for pumpkin pie, baseball playoffs, falling leaves. It also brings the first quivers of anticipation for the college basketball fan, as the first signs of winter appro... [more]
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| S1 March 8, 2005 Bullet Points Four champions are crowned: Creighton (MVC), Niagara (MAAC), Old Dominion (CAA) and UMPFN (WCC). Three more tonight: the Sun Belt, Mid-Continent, and the Horizon league matchup of Detroit and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The run of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies of the Mid-Con continued, they'... [more] |
| S1 March 7, 2005 Bullet Points No finals yesterday, four tonight. The Missouri Valley, as expected since the beginning of the season, was no cookie-cutter cakewalk for top seeds. Both 1 Southern Illinois and 2 Wichita State went down, but the Salukis remain bulletproof on Selection Sunday. Two defending conference ... [more] |
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115. Free Wolfie by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 6, 2005 Game 076: (2) Northeastern 90, (7) Stony Brook 79
America East Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 5, 2005
Events Center - Binghamton, NY
Jose Juan Barea of Northeastern scored 41 points on 17-for-32 shooting, and his Huskies prevailed over the Stony Brook Seawolves in an America East quarterfinal. Tha... [more]
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116. Heads Held High by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 5, 2005 Game 073: (6) Manhattan 76, (9) Loyola (Md.) 67
MAAC First Round
Friday, March 4, 2005
HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY
The Old Loyola Greyhounds - the 2003-04 ones - were the worst team in the entire nation, so getting a nine-seed in the MAAC tournament this year was an entire world of improvement. Afte... [more]
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117. Bringing The Band by Kyle Whelliston
S1 March 5, 2005 Game 072: (7) Canisius 62, (8) Marist 60
MAAC First Round
Friday, March 4, 2005
HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY
In conference tournaments, the sevens and the eights and the nines don't figure they'll be staying long. They usually send a bus with the team, the staff, a couple of cheerleaders and the masc... [more]
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| S1 March 5, 2005 Game 071: (5) Iona 68, (10) Siena 51 MAAC First Round Friday, March 4, 2005 HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY It doesn't matter what type of measurement apparatus you use, Siena's season has been a complete disaster. When you finish 4-15 in conference and 6-24 overall, when you've lost 17 of your last 20,... [more] |
| S1 March 4, 2005 Bracket Wrap Southern: The favorites prevailed, but all their SoCon South division-mates have been wiped out. (recaps) (S1) Davidson 67, (N4) Elon 53 (N2) North Carolina-Greensboro 73, (S3) Georgia Southern 71 (N1) Chattanooga 77, (N5) East Tennessee State 70 (N3) Appalachian State 63, (S2) Charle... [more] |
| S1 March 3, 2005 Mid-American: Miami (Oh.) 70, Kent State 45 (story) - Total domination. The RedHawks (18-8, 12-5 MAC) sent a message to the rest of the league, and to the Selection Committee as well, saying that they'd sure like to be invited to that Dance thingy if there's room on the list. But they didn't ask nic... [more] |
| S1 March 3, 2005 When I told a friend of mine - let's call him Jack - that I was taking the week off from basketball, I received the expected response. "You're never going to make 100!" he exclaimed. "Never! Never! Woooohahahaha!" Well, "Jack," you don't know... Before there was a Mid-Majority, before there was... [more] |
| S1 March 2, 2005 Bracket Wrap Big South: The way is now even clearer for the dominant one-seed in this league; after the campus-seed quarterfinals, the BSC bracket is blown apart. (7) Charleston Southern 66, (2) Liberty 60 (story) (6) High Point 98, (3) North Carolina-Asheville 93 (OT) (story) (4) Birmingham-Sout... [more] |
| S1 February 28, 2005 Mid-American: Bowling Green 57, Miami (Oh.) 56 (story) - Despite the fact that the game's telecast was cancelled after an hour's delay because BGSU's Mawel Soler shattered a backboard during pregame warmups, Falcon senior forward Josh Almanson's jumper with six seconds remaining was a shot heard 'ro... [more] |
| S1 February 27, 2005 Ivy: Pennsylvania 80, Columbia 72 (story) - Congratulations to the Quakers! The first ticket to the NCAA Tournament was punched last night as Penn (17-8, 10-1) clinched the Ivy League regular-season title. They stormed to a win on the Lions' home court, bolstered by 68% second-half shooting and a ... [more] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| S1 February 17, 2005 Colonial: George Mason 74, Old Dominion 58 (story) - Shall I compare last night's performance by the Old Dominion Monarchs to a summer day? Hell, no. The CAA leaders shot just 33 percent from the floor, because their hosts did a lot of spear-shaking on the defensive end. By handing ODU their second ... [more] |
| S1 February 16, 2005 Shootaround! Mid-American: Two games last night in the East division. In yesterday evening's G!O!T!N!, Buffalo (16-7, 9-6 MAC) kept Kent State in check on their home court, 77-66. Turner Battle had 22 points and helped power a 17-5 second-half run that brought Buffalo back from a nine-point halftim... [more] |
| S1 February 15, 2005 Mid-American: Akron 81, Toledo 79 (OT) (story) - It was a clash between teams with MAC high-seed aspirations. But most games this year in this league are like that. Eight of the 13 teams currently have winning records, mostly because Marshall and Central Michigan are so awful. But this was no Valent... [more] |
| 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] |
| S1 February 6, 2005 Western Athletic: Nevada 76, Louisiana Tech 58 (story) - In the most decisive result of Really, Really Exciting Saturday, Nick Fazekas scored 27 points and Nevada (15-5, 9-2 WAC) dominated the previously surging LTU Bulldogs, who were led by former MMBOW Paul Millsap with his 20 and 8. Insodoing, th... [more] |
| S1 February 1, 2005 Southern: Davidson 67, Chattanooga 53 (story) - Davidson built a fourteen-point lead going into halftime, and both teams treaded water for the second half. Despite outrebounding their hosts, the Mocs shot themselves in the foot by shooting just 30% from the floor. Davidson (14-7, 10-0 SoCon) tighten... [more] |
| S1 January 20, 2005 Colonial: Old Dominion 67, Hofstra 66 (story) - As was the case in their recent squeaker against Drexel, Old Dominion raced out to a big lead and then hit the cruise control button too early. The second half was filled with streaky back-and-forth runs, and the homestanding Pride grabbed a 66-64 lead... [more] |
| S1 January 16, 2005 Metro Atlantic: Marist 88, Niagara 87 (story) - The half-asleep Purple Eagles (9-6, 4-3 MAAC) were spent emotionally and physically after their tough loss at Manhattan the other night, and almost had enough to sleepwalk through this one. But the upstart Red Foxes (who are now a surprising 5-1 in con... [more] |
| S1 January 16, 2005 Not very many people outside Kalamazoo were taking the Western Michigan Broncos seriously this year in their quest to defend their Mid-American Conference crown. After all, they lost the reigning MAC Player of The Year, forward Mike Williams - WMU rode his coattails on many occasions last year on th... [more] |
| S1 January 7, 2005 WAC: Texas-El Paso 96, Rice 67 (story) - Reigning MMBOW Michael Harris had 10 points and 15 rebounds - but most were during the first ten minutes, when the visiting Owls established dominance down low. UTEP was able to make successful adjustments, and for the remainder of the game they kept Rice out... [more] |
| 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] |
| S1 December 19, 2004 When I put together the Finals Week quiz, I thought that it would be some nice blog-filler for a light week of hoops. I had no idea that people would actually complete it and send it in, and that I'd find myself "grading" 32 tests despite my total lack of teaching experience. I talked to the Officia... [more] |
| S1 December 15, 2004 Welcome back to Mid-Majority Finals Week!!) whilst displaying your remarkable grasp of all things mid-major. To repeat! "Pencils down" time is Saturday at 6:00 PM EST. Send your completed answer sheets to finalsweek@midmajority.com. The rest of the details about rules and prizes and stuff can be fo... [more] |
| S1 December 12, 2004 UPSETS Southern 67, Southeastern Louisiana 65 (story) - They say "SWAC" stands for "Southern Wins Another Championship," but their hoopsters haven't Danced in 11 years. A squeaker over a SELU team that won 20 games last year will likely stoke the high hopes in Baton Rouge, and help Jaguars fans for... [more] |
| S1 November 27, 2004 Please make sure you check out Yoni's new design over at College Basketball Blog if you haven't already. Clean, fit, functional. I'm now listed in the "pundits" section, although I'm not quite convinced I have pundit-like qualifications. But being listed directly ahead of Mark Cuban is cool. Boo-yah... [more] |
| S1 November 17, 2004 We all know how teams are picked for the postseason National Invitation Tournament. But what's the selection process like for the preseason version, you wonder? The 16 best available teams are based on the following: Projected StrengthReturning StartersReturning LettermenTransfersJunior College Si... [more] |