A feeble attempt at Bracketology and the Great West

As the earth randomly reaches a paradox creating an impulse to change our clocks ahead an hour, a page also turns on the college basketball season, and chapter three begins to unfold.
Tomorrow, the NCAA selection committee crawls out of its cave and tells the world which schools will be dancing.
The most exciting hour we spend annually with Greg Gumbel will be here before you know it, as the NCAA's corporate sponsors tell us what is up.
I love it.
Tonight, in Orem, Utah, a different feeling of March Madness took place, one where a team SIUE is very familiar with became a champion. The University of South Dakota defeated Houston Baptist to stake claim to the Great West Conference title, and an automatic bid into the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Now, there is nothing innately special about the CIT, but for USD, it is a big stepping stone at the base of its transition. The Coyotes and SIUE are connected at the hip in joining the D-I ranks. Both teams started the long five year process in 2007, but took different routes. USD started with a more experienced team, while SIUE started with a young core. Last season, SIUE had one senior; John Edmison. this year it was four, but Aamir McCleary will be the only one with hard to replace numbers. The Coyotes, at 22-9 will graduate their two top players after this season, in Steve Smith and Tyler Cain.
While SIUE ended their year abruptly at 5-23 and as a probationary member of the Ohio Valley Conference, USD parted from the traditional field of teams competing as independents to join the Great West; a conference also in a transition stage.

 

Unlike the other 32 conferences, there is no automatic bid into the NCAA tournament at stake in the Great West, and there will not be for some time. What started as a football-only conference expanded to include all sports in 2008, and to become a home for the homeless.

There is really no time-line in place for the NCAA to grant the Great West a bid into it's tournament, or fully recognize it for what it is, a D-I conference. For the schools competing in it, everyone from Cal-Poly to Chicago State to NJIT and all three of SIUE's transitional counterparts, USD, North Dakota and Seattle it allows these Independents a small glimmer of post-season aspirations being fulfilled.

This is the very reason South Dakota joined the Great West. It gave them something to play for this season, and they made the most out of it. I am not alluding to any notion of SIUE having affiliation with such a conference, having joined the OVC, and having a secure home once it is primed and ready to compete for the dance. South Dakota's Great West title just gives me that little feeling of "man, that would have been nice," as the case probably should be.

South Dakota will be leaving the Great West after a short stay to join the Summit League and come back to the same level as SIUE next season.

One more Independent year, one year to taste the conference and then game time.

Personally, I will admit, the OVC is not my conference of choice for SIUE, and I would have preferred the Summit League, to rejoin an old rival in IPFW, as well as regional competition like Western Illinois, IUPUI, Oakland and UMKC. It just makes a little more sense to me for a Midwest school to play in a true Midwest league rather than the deep-southern roots of the OVC.

I realize the OVC has teams like SEMO, Eastern Illinois and even Murray State with similar academic and geographical profiles, but my trip to Nashville kind of made me wonder where we fit into the OVC landscape.

Who knows, a few years down the road the Missouri Valley may be calling for expansion, and I'm sure Saint Louis University and a more established SIUE program would be at the top of the list. Some post-season play this year would have been fun, but that's what the next week and CBS is here for. To keep us occupied for the time being.

That's all of my random thinking for now, sure to be more tomorrow when the bracket is unveiled, on the NCAA's website they have a really cool Selection Committee game you can play, so consider this bracketology with me. The only problem with this, and it is something I am willing to admit: this season I have only really watched mid major basketball. It's kind of shocking, but I only know who John Wall is because ESPN tells me. I don't care. You want to know what I think about Wofford? sure, I can tell ya. Kentucky? no chance.

In fact, here is a story from the OVC tournament in Nashville. I was live-tweeting the championship game, and these punk Morehead State fans behind me were heckling me in deep southern accents (maybe the reason I don't like the OVC?) "Hey, how's Calipari's twitter looking?" Me: I don't know. Them: Calipari is the biggest Tweeter of all time!" Me: Wouldn't know."

They probably thought I was a moron and have apparently never heard of this thing called "new media" and live tweeting college basketball, but truth of the matter is, in general, I probably know more about college hoops than them. In fact, I know I do.

;)

So, just for fun, this is what my bracketology looks like right now, notice how Witchita State makes my cut and Illinois does not. Poetic justice for Lunardi, Billy Packer and the whole lot of big conference robots out there.

It's harder than it looks.

-Allan.

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Sights and sounds of Nashville

For the past two days I have seen a lot in Nashville, Tenn. The honkytonks, truckstops, basketball games and the beautiful arena downtown have supplied me with constant diversions while spending all of this time alone. It is quite the adventure.

I cannot wait until SIUE can be here with me. The only thing reminiscent of the university I am proud to cover is this single street-side banner on Broadway.

Three of the four semi-finals yesterday were close, Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay closed out their opponents in the second half to advance on the women's side, while EIU gave Murray State the fight of their life in men's basketball. Morehead State had no trouble whatsoever with Tennessee Tech, in a game where the off-the-court action was much more entertaining than the game itself.
I'll break down that story for you. The Morehead State student section was located behind the baseline to my left. Right behind me, was a drunk (and when I mean drunk I mean HAMMERED) Tennessee Tech allum/fan/whathaveyou. You can imagine this being pretty entertaining during the latter portion of a 30 point blow-out.
Morehead State is known nationally as sort of a laughingstock due to its name. Everyone acts 12 years old when they hear Morehead. Now what makes this even better is their students have the same dirty minds as the rest of us.
Take a look at this video I took.
It's one thing to be like "Go Morehead" but "WE WANT...MORE HEAD!" is a little different.
Anyways, drunk TTSU fan was getting verbally destroyed by the Morehead fans and eventually started screaming I LOVE MORE HEAD! I WANT MORE HEAD! He had a little dance-off with Beaker, the Eagles mascot.

It Makes me wonder how I personally put up with SIUE blowouts, 30 points doesn't seem like all that much when we play, but last night felt like a complete bloodbath.
The Murray State/Eastern Illinois game was one of the best basketball games I have ever seen. EIU came out with a purpose and nothing to lose, while Murray on the other hand, with their No. 303 strength of schedule, RPI over 60 and no eye-catching wins basically has to win this thing to get to the dance. Eastern, of course had to do the exact same thing, because at 19-12 there is no way in hell towards getting an automatic bid, but for Murray it was a little different. After the type of season they have had so far, they are the team EXPECTED to be in the NCAA tournament. The NIT resembles failure.
The crowd was 90 percent Murray fans, 5 percent neutral fans and 5 percent Eastern fans. It's a little bit of a drive from Charleston, so its understandable.
The Panthers fought for 40 minutes. They were down by one at half-time and kept the game close throughout. They even led in the second half. The later the game moved along, the more and more I thought EIU would be able to pull the upset. It did not happen, but they have nowhere to hang their heads but high after the effort they gave against a really good ball-club.

The bracket's are set, right now the pep bands are rocking and Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois' women's teams are on the court about ready to get this thing started. The EIU men's team just walked into the gym as well and took a seat in the student section. That is really nice to see.
Tonight comes the epic showdown everyone has been anticipating since the beginning of the season. Morehead State and Murray State. the Eagles took down the Racers for their first OVC loss this season Feb. 25. Morehead, at 23-9 is essentially the only team in this conference capable of beating them on ANY given night. Last night, it was Maze Stallworth scoring 24 points and Kenneth Faried, quite possibly one of the best mid-major players on the planet with 10 points and nine rebounds to oust Tennessee Tech. Tonight they will be essential to getting Morehead State back to the dance. Remember, they were a 16 seed a year ago and have more tournament experience than this current group from Murray State. No doubt coach Donnie Tyndall will have them fired up for this one. I'm excited, are you excited?
ESPN2. 7:00.
So, Nashville is a pretty great town and all the people are nice. There is a certain southern twang in almost every locals voice, and that's kind of disturbing, but other than that I am enjoying myself.
I came down a day early to catch the Predators game right here at Bridgestone Arena. While waiting in line for a ticket, a guy came up to me and asked if I just needed one, and I did. I ended up scoring a free ticket five rows from the ice. Beer was half-price too for 'college night,' so I took advantage of that.

Later on in the night, I went to a bar with a great live band. Seriously, if you are ever in Nashville there are some awesome cover bands. The one Thursday at a place called "The Stage" on Broadway played everything from Journey to Love and Theft. Today for lunch, I went to a place right across the street from the arena with a 3-piece cover band playing, the lead singer was actually originally from St. Louis, which was fun to note. A beer, a water a fish sandwich and off to right now.

So, about the truck stops...I didn't want to get a hotel and spend $80 bucks to sleep for 2 nights. So, instead I enjoyed a two night stay in the luxurious Saturn Suite at the Pilot Hyatt, or so I like to call it. The one thing that sucks about truck stops is the weather. Here in Nashville, the days have been nice, but the nights have been chilly. I swore I was going to get hypothermia and by the time I woke up I was drenched in sweat because the sun was beating down on me. I came out alive, and hookers? just an urban legend.
I'm out for now, Women's championship about to tip-off.

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Another plea to the Red Storm

Revamping the Red Storm is vital to SIUE athletics.

With the sixth man breathing down the opponents necks, momentum can shift in a heartbeat, free throws miss the target and floors get rushed after victories.

As is the case with any Division I university, SIUE has two basketball teams: a men's team and a women's team. The men's team will be the one receiving all the media attention and the majority of the student support, but keep in mind Head Coach Amanda Levens and her team this season when heading down to the Vadalabene Center.

Friday presents a scheduling conflict for those who care about SIUE basketball. If you are not going to the University of Illinois to watch the men's team take on the No. 23 Illini or streaming the game on ESPN360.com, the women's team opens the season at home against Morehead State University, the team to beat in the Ohio Valley Conference.

If you would rather watch a game in person and are not making the trip to Champaign, the women would greatly appreciate your support against the best their future conference has to offer.

They'll probably even announce updates on the men's game as it happens, so you really are not missing out on much and still supporting Cougar athletics.

Sunday, the men have a huge home opener against an in-state team with star power coming off a near-miss on an NCAA tournament birth. Conveniently, it is scheduled on the flip-side of a double header, opening with the women's team against a big-name in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Tailgates are great, and it's hard to keep a buzz during the span of two basketball games, but fans and the Red Storm should do their best to give both squads attention. All things considered, the fan support for the women Saturday night against the University of Missouri-St. Louis was adequate, and I commend the group heckling UMSL's players behind me on the media bench. The Cougars need support like that more often.

With two games on Sunday, I advise students to tailgate hard and cheer even harder. Heckle the opposition relentlessly. Unanimously pick a player, and let them have it the whole game. For the women, it might be Milwaukee's Ashley Imperiale because she has a funky last name. For the men, it has to be ISU's Bobby Hill…propane.

It's time to show the nation what SIUE's fans are all about.

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