...completed
-- Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer interviews John Calipari about L'Affair Chaney and pens today's absolute must-read. In Calipari's eyes, the calls for Chaney to retire following the John Bryant incident have more to do with wins and losses than they do with reprehensible behavior.
"I'm kind of disgusted with Temple. How they would deal with him at this stage - he's been this way for 30 years. He hasn't changed. He's the same guy he was 10 years ago, 15 years ago. Why all of a sudden are you taking a stance? Because he's losing? If you want him to retire, ask him to retire."
"It's like Bobby Knight. You're telling me he hadn't done those things [at Indiana] for 20 years. While he was winning national titles, it was tough love. When he couldn't win the Big Ten title to save his life, it was abusive...The hypocrisy of it makes me want to throw up."
-- The SportsProf takes a look at the recently released list of McDonald's All-Americans and asks "Whither Big Ten hoops?" My reaction? Down but not out.
-- Where you aware? Of the past nine Division 1 top scorers, only three -- Kurt Thomas, Glenn Robinson and Courtney Alexander -- are in the NBA. Not what Keydren Clark wanted to hear.
-- Oh, no he didn't. Oh, yes he did. Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette suggests the unthinkable; despite the school's lofty ranking, Pittsburgh may not receive an NCAA Tournament bid.
-- Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle notes last year's Pacific squad was no fluke. He also gets coach Bob Thomason to admit an important mistake from which other mid-major coaches should learn.
Thomason acknowledged he made a mistake in the wake of 24-win and 23-win seasons in 1996-97 and '97-'98. He signed six freshmen, rather than his preferred mix of high school and JC players, and the Tigers wobbled (also partly because of [Michael] Olowokandi's departure to the pros).
-- Travis Diener was 83 points removed from setting a Marquette record for points scored as a Golden Eagle. More reason to pity Diener after last week's injury...Steve "The Homer" True will no longer call Marquette University's basketball games. Did he also brake his hand?
-- Joel Anderson pens a nice piece about "Turnaround" Tom Penders for the Associates Press. Still smarting from his dismissal from Texas, Penders must be happy his Cougars (17-10, 7-5 Conference USA, RPI: 65) are about as likely to play in the NCAA Tournament as are Rick Barnes' Longhorns (17-8, 7-8, RPI: 36).
-- Kevin McNamara of the Providence (RI) Journal reviews recently released internal Big East documents that reveal the conference's Division I-A (or football) schools were interested in splitting from the basketball schools once Miami and Virginia Tech accepted invitations to join the ACC. How. Very. Interesting.
A July 9, 2003 meeting came two weeks after Miami and Virginia Tech had accepted offers to leave for the ACC. BC and Syracuse were surprisingly bypassed by the ACC in favor of the Hokies and left to rebuild a badly damaged Big East football conference.
Presidents and athletic directors of the six remaining football schools (BC, UConn, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia) came to a quick consensus to split from basketball partners Providence, Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova. Among the bombshells dropped at the meeting:
Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel, one of the founders of the conference, stated that if the group decided to expand to a 16-school, football-basketball conglomerate, he'd resign his position at SU. BC athletics boss Gene DeFilippo "echoes those sentiments," according to the meeting's minutes.
Syracuse chancellor Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw asked the ADs whether there was any support for a 16-team conference. There was none, so the group voted, 6-0, to pursue expansion to form an eight- or nine-school all-sports conference.
The group drafted language for any breakup discussions that read: "We as a group genuinely believe that the breakup of the Big East Conference is inevitable -- and probably the best overall scenario for all parties concerned. Toward that end, we would suggest that a small group of football representatives meet with a small group of basketball representatives in order to discuss the possible fallout issues associated with this. We are prepared to do what we can to minimize the negative impact that this breakup will have on your group."
-- The Dallas Fort-Worth (TX) Star-Telegram's Wendell Barnhouse reports Ben Howland might soon cancel the annual UCLA-Notre Dame game. Peculiar timing, as I have several times suggested tomorrow's game in South Bend is the perfect opportunity for the Bruins to notch a significant road win and play their way into the NCAA Tournament.
-- The Kansas City Star's Jeffrey Flanagan criticizes the Kansas Jayhawks for refusing to speak to the media ahead of their big game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. But in suggesting that the scandal-plagued Missouri Tigers' public relations department should be a model for the Jayhawks' communications shop, Flanagan puts his own interests as a member of the media ahead of those of Kansas players. As Bill Self -- a much wiser coach than Missouri's Quin Synder -- well knows.
-- Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution plays Bracketologist. His No. 1 seeds? Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina and...Boston College. On Barnhart's bubble are Iowa State, Stanford, Marquette, Miami, St. Mary's, and Georgetown.
-- The Washington Post makes two important observations. First, LSU's John Brady has, in but four weeks, "gone from the hot seat to coaching one of college basketball's hottest teams." Brady's club has won 10 of their past 13 games, defeating Mississippi State, Florida and Alabama in the past three matches. Second, Buffalo (!) is firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. At 18-7 (10-6 in the Mid-American Conference) and with an RPI of 42, Reggie Witherspoon's bunch is very much in the hunt following five consecutive victories.
-- The Post also plays Bracketologist. (Syracuse, Chicago, Austin, and Albuquerque, regionals).
-- Finally, the venerable DC newspaper weighs in on the Pac 10's (lack of) potential March Madness.
It is beginning to seem more and more possible the Pac-10 will get only two teams in the 65-team field, unless somebody other than Arizona or Washington wins the conference tournament. Stanford and UCLA are the only other teams with winning records in Pac-10 play, and the Cardinal is down to eight scholarship players because of injuries and other off-court issues. Playing without leading scorer Dan Grunfeld, who tore knee ligaments Feb. 12, the Cardinal lost at Oregon State, 84-83, on Thursday night. Stanford (15-10, No. 44 RPI) won 10 games against teams ranked outside the RPI top 100 and was swept by Arizona State. UCLA (15-9, No. 40 RPI) lost to Stanford after Grunfeld was hurt, and the Bruins are 1-7 against teams in the RPI top 50. Arizona State (18-10, No. 56 RPI) has lost four of its last six games, and 11 of its wins came against teams ranked outside the RPI top 100.
Which raises an important question; could the West Coast Conference receive more invitations than the Pac 10? Gonzaga is a lock and St. Mary's is a legit bubble team. Say San Francisco or Pepperdine defeated St. Mary's in the finals of the WCC tournament, would we see the WCC best the Pac 10?
-- Jensen also speaks to a (still) defiant John Chaney.
-- The Awesome Aussie's first preference would be to play professionally for the Utah Jazz. A Mailman Redux?
-- The underappreciated Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch interviews "The General." What says Bobby Knight about the Big Ten? The conference isn't very good. Illinois' run? Still impressive...Miklasz also reveals his would-be ballot for Missouri Valley Conference player of the year. In Bernie's envelope? Darren Brooks...In the motherland? Rickey Paulding. The former Missouri star now plays professionally for Israel's Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem.
-- For a while, I thought I was the only pundit who believed Connecticut's Marcus Williams to be among the nation's best 5-10 point guards. No more. Welcome to the club, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
-- More police blotter, this time courtesy of former Purdue star Porter Roberts. Thou shalt not steal...
-- The editorial board of the Burlington (VT) Free Press thanks coach Tom Brennan for 19 years of service. Goodbye, Catamounts. Hello, ESPN.
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