CBSSports.com bracketology expert, Jerry Palm, joined Jon Rothstein on the Tim Brando Show to discuss potential NCAA tournament teams like South Florida, Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Tennessee.
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I had said just a couple weeks ago that I didn’t know how many of these cases would come out of the woodwork, but I knew they were coming. Now, the Syracuse scandal with Bernie Fine is here, Jim Boeheim initially defended him, and then Fine got fired and Boeheim had to back off his earlier statements.
The coach said that:
“What happened on my watch, we’ll see. When the investigation is done, we’ll find out what happened on my watch. Right now there are no charges, no indictment, no grand jury and no action has been taken. When that’s done, we’ll see what happened on my watch.”
This is what I was talking about. As long as we get a regular stream of upsets every week, the college basketball season is going to be really exciting. Now, you might be wondering what PC is. Well, PC is not political correctness. No, if that had toppled Cincinnati, then we’d be talking about a debate team match. No, PC, in this case, is tiny-little Presbyterian College out of Clinton, SC. (And, in case you were wondering, about the only other thing in Clinton is the High School–which has a pretty good marching band.)
The NCAA has struck UCONN again. This time, it’s a player who was receiving improper benefits. Freshman point guard, Ryan Boatright, has been suspended for six games by the NCAA for just such an offense.
Supposedly, the violation took place while Boatright was playing AAU basketball (which is not college) and involved a plane ticket (again, while this kid was not in college.)
So, I’m confused. Let’s say that this kid was bought a plane ticket by a booster from UCONN (remember, I’m just talking here–I don’t know what actually happened.) Shouldn’t the booster be barred from donating money or helping the team or something like that?
I said that I thought Mississippi State should be ranked a little better, and I was right. They claimed the tournament title of the 2K Sports Classic, and now they are cruising. Remember, I never said that I thought Miss. St. would win a national title, but I’m just used to the Bulldogs having good basketball teams. It makes the SEC more compelling because it’s usually just Florida and Kentucky. (On a sidenote, I was right about both Vandy and Miss. St. in the course of about a week. I’m pretty proud of myself for that one.)
I knew, I just knew as soon as the allegations surfaced at Penn State that there would be more people coming out of the woodwork all over the place saying that the same thing happened to them in other places. The first one has already come out and said that assistant coach Bernie Fine, at Syracuse, molested them in the 70′s, 80′s, and 90′s.
Pitt lost to Long Beach State last night. I know, right? Long Beach State. It’s one of those schools that we always forget exists until we see them come tournament time. Well, Pitt decided to go ahead and lose to them. I’m not sure why, but I think when you’re shooting 46% from the field, you aren’t going to win many games.
This is why I will never understand non-conference scheduling. Don’t schedule cupcakes if you aren’t going to take them seriously. Every year, some teams get eaten by their cupcakes because they just won’t take the game seriously. Let’s face it, losing by 10 to LBSU is not an accident.
Rick Pitino is marching towards greater milestones with every new year. Yesterday, he picked up win number 600. Louisville defeated Tennessee-Martin to make Pitino a coach who is in rarified air. In order to get to 600 wins, you are going to have to have 20 wins a season for a very long time. It’s impressive, and I’m happy for coach Pitino.
I also appreciate that Pitino wants to bring a title back to Louisville. Not only does he know the history and tradition at Louisville, but he knows how to win himself:
I guess they can. When I thought that the Big 12 was going to be the conference to crumble, I truly believed that no one was going to be itching to go to the Big 12. Well, now the Big East is the conference where everyone is leaving and not enough people are coming in. The Big 12 never had to sue anybody to keep their conference together. The Big East, however, thinks that suing West Virginia is a good idea.
It’s official, West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the Big 12. Officially, we have destroyed the idea of regional conferences. West Virginia’s nearest conference opponent is, at a cursory glance, likely one of the Oklahoma schools. So, that means they can help buoy the conference for now, and they can potentially go someplace where they can continue to grow as a football program.
