0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/25/2016
The story of Greg Gard begins with the Bennett family. In the year 2000, Dick Bennett led Wisconsin to its first Final Four since 1941. Bennett’s relentless emphasis on the basic components of the sport produced teams which were so structurally sound that a lack of jump-through-the-building athleticism didn’t entirely matter. Yes, Wisconsin would fall […]
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When the Boise State Broncos were unfairly deprived of a victory they earned against the Colorado State Rams a few weeks ago, at least the outcome didn’t affect the structure of the NCAA tournament bubble. Wednesday night in Corvallis, Oregon, a timekeeping error affected the outcome of a game with significant bubble implications. Do we […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/24/2016
The Mountain West Conference had a lot to shout about in March of 2015. The league put three teams into the NCAA tournament after getting only two Dance invites in 2014. Wyoming made its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002, showing other member schools that periods of struggle and postseason exile do not have the […]
Feb 23, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Denzel Valentine (45) speeds past Ohio State Buckeyes center Daniel Giddens (4) during the second half at Value City Arena. The Spartans won 81-62. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
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The Ohio State Buckeyes — without Jae’Sean Tate — were no match for the Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday night. The loss was significant in itself, but the surrounding details made it that much tougher to absorb. First, the Buckeyes took the court knowing that Tate, one of their core players, would miss the rest […]
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Life on the NCAA tournament bubble is difficult enough as it is. A long season winds toward its conclusion, which means that bodies are wearing down. There’s no mid-February week off for an All-Star break as there is in the NBA. Legs aren’t as fresh. The physical dimensions of late-February and early-March basketball are imposing […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/23/2016
In a strange college basketball season, the Pac-12 isn’t necessarily stranger than any other conference. However, it’s a lot less defined than many. North Carolina, Virginia, Miami, and Duke are good teams in the ACC. The first three will get particularly high NCAA tournament seeds. The Big 12’s team-specific matchups produce plenty of plot twists […]
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March being what it is — namely, the most wildly unpredictable month in American sports — we could soon see a postseason which undoes the themes created by the college basketbal regular season. Don’t count on it. The Miami Hurricanes’ 64-61 win over the Virginia Cavaliers on Monday night in South Florida was a portrait […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/22/2016
College sports represent an analytical battleground for many reasons, chief among them the smaller sample sizes created by comparatively shorter regular seasons. It’s true that college basketball features a 30-game regular season, two and a half times the length of a football campaign. Yet, an 18-game conference season combined with 12 non-conference clashes — all […]
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The arrival of March — just a week away — means that coaching decisions will be met with a lot more scrutiny. Let’s get into the habit, then, shall we? Two coaches made the same basic mistake this past weekend, and while their teams were already likely to lose, their decisions turned defeat from a […]
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Late February, in the world of college basketball, means that small-conference tournaments are just around the corner. It means that bubble teams are arriving at crunch time. It means that the useless bracket projections made by an Italian American in Bristol over the course of a whole season will finally merit genuine interest. Late February […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/21/2016
“The magnitude of things clearly manifests the wisdom and goodness of the triune God, who by power, presence and essence exists uncircumscribed in all things.” — Saint Bonaventure, The Soul’s Journey into God, 1259 * “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same.” — Rudyard Kipling, If, 1910 […]
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Any commentator who dives into the pool of news analysis — and makes assessments based on what s/he sees — has to do one thing more than anything else: acknowledge when the flow of events changes. What might have been one week’s accurate-enough analysis can be overturned the following week. Any forceful or firm proclamations […]
PIONEERS, O PIONEERS! Joe Scott has tried to lead Denver to its first NCAA tournament, but after almost a decade on the job, that goal remains elusive. The Pioneering pursuit continues for a man dedicated to the process of coaching.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/19/2016
In a sport with 351 head coaches, a lot of stories are waiting to be told. Typically, the stories which capture the headlines are the stories of the men who lead their teams into the Madness of March. However, basketball is bigger and broader than just the sweet sound of success. It’s also about the […]
Mark Turgeon
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College basketball differs from college football in so many ways. One of them: time. Basketball coaches might not have an abundance of time on an overall level — look at North Carolina State, Memphis, and other teams which were essentially finished as at-large candidates before February even began. That said, basketball bosses have so much […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/18/2016
The continuing chaos of the 2016 college basketball season emerged in a number of striking ways on a wild Wednesday night which felt a little bit like March. Fact No. 1: Penn State has now beaten both Indiana and Iowa at home this month. Fact No. 2: Penn State has work to do to merely […]
