Baldy's Bracket

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No time to go into my thought processes. Then again, delving too deep inside my brain is dangerous for man or beast, so let's get right to my NCAA hoops predictions now that the play-in preliminaries have been played. (Legitimate upset picks are in italics.)

SOUTH

Kentucky over Western Kentucky
UConn over Iowa St.
Wichita St. over VCU
Indiana over New Mexico St.
Colorado over UNLV (11-6 upset)
Baylor over S. Dakota St.
Xavier over Notre Dame
Duke over Lehigh

Kentucky over UConn
Wichita St. over Indiana
Baylor over Colorado
Duke over Xavier

Kentucky over Wichita St.
Baylor over Duke

Kentucky over Baylor

WEST

Michigan St. over Long Island
Memphis over St. Louis
Long Beach St. over New Mexico (12-5 upset)
Louisville over Davidson
Colorado St. over Murray St. (11-6 upset)
Marquette over BYU
Florida over Virginia
Missouri over Norfolk St.

Memphis over Michigan St. (8-1 upset)
Long Beach St. over Louisville (12-4 upset)
Marquette over Colorado St.
Missouri over Florida

Memphis over Long Beach St.
Marquette over Missouri

Marquette over Memphis

EAST

Syracuse over UNC-Asheville
Kansas St. over S. Mississippi
Vanderbilt over Harvard
Wisconsin over Montana
Cincinnati over Texas
Florida St. over St. Bonaventure
West Virginia over Gonzaga
Ohio St. over Loyola Md.

Syracuse over Kansas St.
Vanderbilt over Wisconsin
Florida St. over Cincinnati
Ohio St. over West Virginia

Vanderbilt over Syracuse (5-1 upset)
Florida St. over Ohio St.

Vanderbilt over Florida State

MIDWEST

North Carolina over Vermont
Creighton over Alabama
Temple over S. Florida
Michigan over Ohio
N.C. State over San Diego St. (11-6 upset)
Georgetown over Belmont
St. Mary's over Purdue
Kansas over Detroit

North Carolina over Creighton
Temple over Michigan
Georgetown over N.C. State
Kansas over St. Mary's

North Carolina over Temple
Kansas over Georgetown

Kansas over North Carolina

FINAL FOUR

Marquette over Kentucky
Kansas over Vanderbilt

CHAMPIONSHIP

Marquette over Kansas

I didn't start out meaning to sound like the Marquette alum and fan that I am. But as I went along, I legitimately believed my Golden Warriors were good enough to win every game ... so what am I supposed to do? Pick against them?

The last time I picked them to reach the Final Four was 2003, and they did.

Ipso fatso, cash in those 401ks and IRAs and bet it all on Marquette, kiddies!

(Having said that, I hope my lads don't lose their first game to BYU!!!!)
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Big East didn't need UConn for validation

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So I guess this means the Big East and the Horizon League are the two best basketball conferences in the country, right?

Seriously, all those who thought the Big East was overrated and therefore didn't deserve 11 teams in the tournament simply weren't paying attention.

UConn went 21-0 outside the conference but had to fight just to finish tied for ninth in its conference. One of the Huskies' last losses came at home against Marquette, which also was tied for ninth in the league and which advanced to the Sweet 16.

I don't think it's any coincidence that a UConn squad toughened by the Big East gauntlet for three months had what it took to reach the title game.

Still, this doesn't "prove" the Big East is the best, any more than some second-round losses "proved" the league was overrated. The conference didn't need this for validation. Anybody who really follows college ball knows what's what.

As for explaining Butler reaching the final for two straight years, well, I've got nothing. Except admiration for the program, that is.
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Bobby Knight's last losing legacy

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Were coaching genius hereditary, James Wooden, Allie McGuire and Adolph Rupp II would be heralded throughout the land.

It isn't ... and they aren't.

Pat Knight isn't heralded, either. He's just another ex-coach, having been canned by Texas Tech after his Red Raiders compiled the second-worst record in the Big 12 during his three-year run.

Ten years ago, Bobby Knight came out of forced retirement to energize the Texas Tech program and put Lubbock on the map. Short term, the hire was a resounding success. Knight, truly one of the great coaching minds in sports history, worked wonders with the decent group of basketball players he inherited.

In his fourth season, the Red Raiders advanced to the Sweet Sixteen -- something his Hoosiers couldn't do in his final six stormy seasons at Indiana. Texas Tech fans, who had been apathetic for decades, turned out to games. ESPN even found Lubbock a few times.

Knight seemed to get bored, however, and the year after the Sweet Sixteen -- when his first full recruiting class was in -- the Red Raiders went 15-17. Two years later, his program flagging and attendance waning, he resigned midseason.

As part of his employment, he had arranged for Pat to take over when he stepped down. It turned out to be the coaching version of a fraternity legacy: an ill-equipped kid being invited to pledge only because his old man had been frat president.

Unlike Bobby, Pat actually is a reasonable fellow. There are no known cases of him having strangled players at practice or throwing chairs across the court. He handled his firing with class.

Unlike Bobby, Pat can't coach a lick.

His Red Raiders were rotten, and empty seats outnumbered filled ones at home games.

Maybe now he'll follow his pop to ESPN. There, he wouldn't have to do much to eclipse Bobby, who has trouble putting consecutive coherent sentences together.
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Only BCS format can save sucky NCAA hoops tourney

NCAA pooh-bahs had better fix the way they crown their men's basketball champion, because, as usual, the tournament has been a horrible bore.

Overtimes, one-point games, stunning upsets, wild finishes, stirring storylines ... yawn ... wake me when it's over, OK?

Obviously, NCAA honchos should have adopted the always-thrilling BCS model, declared Kansas and Kentucky the two best teams in the land, had the Jayhawks and Wildcats wait 4 or 5 weeks until they meet in an overhyped mythical title game, and let all the other teams play in dozens of glorious basket-"bowl" games.

After all, that formula always produces such a satisfying conclusion to the college football season, right?

And while they're at it, they can tell their basketball programs to stop scheduling games against quality opponents before conference play begins. In football, the best teams spend September fattening up on Cupcake U - yummy morsels for the every-game-counts crowd.

It's hard to beat Florida vs. Central Eastern State College for none of the marbles, I always say.

Clearly, following the NCAA basketball tournament model could never work in football.

I mean, who would want to see the best teams from a cross-section of the country go at it round-by-round until a legitimate champion gets crowned?

Blame aplenty for Memphis Mess

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OK, kids, it's time for this week's edition of THE BLAME GAME!

Who is most to blame for the Memphis mess, which has led to the university's 2007-08 basketball team being stripped of its NCAA-record 38 victories?

--John Calipari, then-Memphis coach.

--High-ranking university officials.

--Derrick Rose, then-star point guard.

--Rose's family.

--The NCAA.

--David Stern, NBA commissioner.

Here is the supporting evidence regarding each candidate ...

JOHN CALIPARI

He wasn't named in the NCAA report but he's a control freak who had to know what was going on. He certainly knew Rose's brother had accompanied the team on charter flights against NCAA rules and he likely knew Rose had used a substitute to take the SAT. This is the second time one of Calipari's Final Four teams (UMass '96 being the other) has had an entire season's worth of wins vacated because of major infractions. Although Calipari wasn't formally accused in the UMass case, either, this is one heck of a coincidence, no? Congratulations, Kentucky, you've hired the best kind of cheater - one who gets away with it.

MEMPHIS OFFICIALS

They hired Calipari even though he had a suspicious past and they provided little oversight to prevent scandal in his program. Then, after the decision was announced Thursday, they expressed their outrage and said they'd appeal. They really don't care about the lost victories, they care about the lost money; they now have to return the dough they got for the team's march to the Final Four. Hey, there's a reason "lack of institutional control" is cited in almost every one of these cases. It is the institution's responsibility to oversee its athletic program. Period.

DERRICK ROSE

He knew he was cheating and he did it anyway. His only defense is that he didn't really want to go to college but the system "forced" him to do so because the NBA no longer allowed high-schoolers to turn pro. Sorry, but that's no better than the defense Rose played for the Bulls in April, when Rajon Rondo burned him repeatedly. Say what you want about the kids who opt to go overseas instead of to college; at least they and their families play by the rules.

ROSE'S FAMILY

Derrick's other excuse: He was a kid. The adults around him should have known better. Of course, they probably truly believed that the right thing was having Derrick get into school by any means possible. The NBA wasn't an option and given that he failed the ACT three times, hiring an SAT stand-in must have seemed the only choice. Heck of a life lesson for young Derrick: Honesty is the best policy ... unless cheating works better.

THE NCAA

Where was the oversight to prevent Rose from using a substitute test-taker? It makes you wonder how many times this has happened over the years. Methinks plenty. The others simply haven't been caught.

DAVID STERN

Selfishly, most of us like the NBA rule that denies the future Kobes, KGs and LeBrons the opportunity to go from preps to pros. We like that our favorite NBA teams don't have to take chances on 18-year-olds and we like our college teams to get these studs. But really, how can a rule that makes universities act like minor-league teams be good? How can a rule that turns teenagers into unpaid (or at least low-paid) mercenaries be prudent? Why should a young man who clearly is good enough to make a living in his chosen profession - and one whose family might desperately need the money - be forced to wait (or to leave the country)? It would have been like telling Chris Evert or Mozart or, yes, LeBron: "Sorry, kid ... no pro for you!"

OK, given all the evidence, have you ranked your culprits? I have, and here's how I'm dividing the blame:

NCAA ... 5 percent.

STERN ... 10 percent.

MEMPHIS ... 15 percent.

CALIPARI ... 20 percent.

ROSE'S FAMILY ... 20 percent.

ROSE ... 30 percent.

I'm a big believer in personal responsibility and in each of us being held accountable for our actions.

Though Rose's family (and probably his coach) let him cheat (and probably encouraged it), it ultimately was Derrick's call. He was old enough to know right from wrong. He chose wrong, and he brought his school shame because of it.

I like to think that Rose's free-throw-line choke job, which helped deliver the '08 title to Kansas, was the karmic result.

Hoops, hoops and more hoops

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An elite eight's worth of observations from a wild (and wildly entertaining) weekend of college hoops:

1. It doesn't mean they'll win the title, of course, but the Pitt Panthers are the best team in the country. They beat UConn twice, have three big-time difference-makers and lots of fine supporting actors. And they're not coached by Dave Wannstedt.

2. Nine teams can win the national championship: Pitt, UConn, North Carolina, Duke, Oklahoma, Louisville, Michigan State, Kansas and Memphis. I'm already completely psyched for the NCAA tourney.

3. Most assume Oklahoma stud Blake Griffin will be the national player of the year, but the MVP apparently is Dominic James. Before he broke his foot, my Marquette Golden Warrior Eagles were in first place in the nation's best conference, were ranked No. 8 in the country and were 23-4. Without him, they've gone 0-4 and almost surely won't be seeded higher than sixth in the NCAAs. How could we have known that a 5-foot-10 guy who can't hit 50 percent of his free throws could be so valuable? OK, so maybe they would have lost to UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse even with James, but ...

4. The Big East is the best conference in the country - and the contest isn't close. Even after the beastly Pitt-UConn-Louisville troika, any of the next four Big East squads would have a good chance of finishing in the top two of just about any other league. I like Memphis' style and coaching ... but really, where would the Tigers have finished if they had to play a Big East schedule instead of a Conference USA schedule? 

5. There's a bigger difference between Michigan State and the rest of the Big Ten pack than there is between any other Big Six conference leader and the rest of its field. Aside from Tom Izzo's lads, the Big Ten features several solid-but-severely-flawed teams that won't survive the opening weekend of the NCAAs.

6. On the one hand ... Chris Lowery has demonstrated why coaches want to get theirs when the opportunity arises. Early in his tenure at Southern Illinois, he had great success with Matt Painter's recruits and received some overtures from major programs. Lowery stayed put - after getting himself a nice raise - and now the program is sliding backward. You have to wonder if he has any regrets about sticking around.

7. On the other hand ... Billy Gillespie had it all at Texas A&M - a huge contract, respect in an excellent league, university support and a great pipeline into his state's prep talent. But when Kentucky came a'callin', he simply had to go, right? I mean, after all, it is Kentucky! Well, there's a lot to be said about being rich, winning big and building a program in a less pressure-filled environment. Gillespie is flaming out in Kentucky, and it won't be long before they come a'callin' again - for his head. It's one of those no-win jobs; I don't know why any coach would subject himself to it.

8. Nice try, Northwestern. For a little while there, it was almost as if you were, um, someone other than Northwestern.