Dantheman4250's Tournament Take : CBSSports.com Blogs

Explaining the Bracket: January 30, 2012

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:15:58 EST

Explaining the Bracket: January 30, 2012 Which team did I miss on? It may be Dayton

NOTE: The NCAA Tournament bracket can be found on BracketologyExpert.com, along with a Bubble Watch and S-Curve Rankings.

Here are five things that I think you might find interesting about my bracket:

1) Dayton probably should be in my NCAA Tournament field. The Flyers have a couple of terrible losses, but I think I can find it in my heart to forgive them based on their great wins. The Flyers lost to Buffalo by 29, Miami (OH) by 5, and were largely uncompetitive against Murray State. But wins against Alabama, Seton Hall, Ole Miss, Saint Louis, Temple, and Xavier make it easier to forgive those losses. The Flyers are the toughest team to figure out in my field at this point. Dayton has lost its last two games to Saint Joseph’s and Rhode Island (No. 263 in the RPI!) and that’s why I have them out, but a second look at their resume and a good debate by my buddy Blake Hofstad might have changed my mind. I guess you’ll have to wait for the next update to see if this mindset sticks.

Dantheman's Bracketology Feb 1, Is UNC Still In?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:57:20 EST

BRACKETOLOGY: Is UNC IN or OUT? | BUBBLE WATCH | STREAKIN THE COURT GAME: LOUISVILLE OR UCONN?

After tonight's loss by North Carolina, I'm sure the main topic in bracketology is going to be about the Tar Heels and whether they should be in the field right now. Due to that, I decided to make an entire blog post motivated to the Tar Heels.

So, here's some common questions I expect to be asked:

1) Is North Carolina in the field right now?

Streakin' the Court: Day 2 of the Challenge......

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 0:39:45 EST

The second day of my "Streakin the Court" game is now underway. Here is where you pick your matchups (which I've posted below to show everyone how the game works).

Today's Matchups:

#1 Which result will take place: Illiniois at Penn State? (5:30 CT)

Illinois wins by double digits

Dantheman's "Streakin the Court Game"

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 1:59:15 EST

If anyone has ever played the "Streak for the Cash", I created the "Streakin' the Court" game for college basketball only. The game is going to be played on my personal website (I got my forums back up today and have been wanting to play this kind of game for a while). I would run the game over here, but it would be much harder to keep up with who posted when and with what screename and see if someone had multiple accounts and so on and so on.

The game will work just like ESPN's Streak for the Cash. Players will pick a college basketall matchup from the games I list each day and get a winning streak of 1 if they win. Each time they lose their streak restarts (unless they had lost the game before, then they'd be at -2). I'm up for discussion on what the winner gets, although I plan to do three different segments (Now-End of Feb, March 1-Conf. Tournaments, and NCAA Tournament) before the year is over.

January 18th Bracketology & A Breakdown

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 8:29:02 EST

My newest bracketology is out, but I decided not to just leave it at a bracket this time around. There are always lots of questions and with all the changes I made in this version, I decided it was time to do a breakdown. Below is the breakdown, which is also on my site.

On Sunday Michigan’s win over Connecticut added to the craziness of doing a bracket at this point. After a wild weekend, I decided that my bracketology update was so big that I needed to break it down in a blog to make all the updates make sense.

For instance, how do I explain seeding Purdue (4 seed) and West Virginia (5 seed) after their recent slides? Remember, my bracketology is based on if the season ended today. If the season were to end today, neither the Boilermakers or Mountaineers have played very well down the stretch. The Boilermakers started out undefeated (and were a 1 seed in my last update) and have a win over WVU, but have lost to Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Northwestern since. WVU slides a bit farther with losses to Purdue, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. Both teams would be top five seeds for sure if the season ended today, but their seeded lower than most would have them in my bracket due to their recent slides.

Dantheman's Bracketology: January 12th

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:00:15 EST

Hopefully there's no major mistakes tonight.....I was exhausted when I put this together.

There is only ONE Pac 10 team in the bracket tonight. I'm tired of waiting on teams like Washington to win games they should. As of now, the Huskies are out.

http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/

?page_id=27

Join Me In A Live Chat About Today's Games

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:15:22 EST

Join me today for a live chat on all today's college basketball games! We will discuss all of today's games and I will answer any bracketology questions, so take advantage!

Link: http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/?p=723

Dantheman's January 5th Bracketology

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:06:17 EST

My newest bracket is out. You can see the seedings below, but you have to click here to see the bracket .

Bracketology Seedings (Teams in No Particular Order):

1s: Kansas, Purdue, Texas, Kentucky

2s: Duke, Villanova, West Virginia, Syracuse

Weekend Picks

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:07:15 EST

This weekend we picked the following games:

#1 Kansas (12-0) at #19 Temple (11-2)

Louisville (10-3) at #3 Kentucky (14-0)

Pittsburgh (11-2) at #5 Syracuse (13-0)

This Week's Picks: Including PUR-WVU

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:14:26 EST

Since Arth and I both went 8-5 over the last week (during the Holidays), I maintain my two game lead over him in game picks. This week we are picking 25 games, including a huge showdown between Purdue and West Virginia on Friday. Picks

Games we picked :

Rutgers (9-2) at #10 North Carolina (9-3)

BYU (12-1) at Arizona (6-5)

Did Arizona get lucky versus Lipscomb?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:08:12 EST

I followed this game all last night and the more times I see the Youtube video, the more it looks like Lipscomb should've won their game against Arizona. Down in overtime, Nic Wise hit this game winner to get the Wildcats the win to avoid embarrasment. I've got the video on my site here , for those who haven't seen it.

Either way, since when Lipscomb start playing competitive games against Arizona? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the shot. Should it have counted? Should it have not counted?

This Week's Picks: Why I'm Going Upset Crazy

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:26:27 EST

This week Santa Claus will be coming down a chimney near you and due to that I feel I'm going a bit crazy with upsets. I feel there could be a lot of upsets this week, so I'm jumping on the upset bandwagon and holding on for dear life.

This all means that if I were you, I'd take the 13 picks I chose and change nearly all 13 of them before heading to Vegas for last second Christmas money. Here's my breakdown of this week's "potential upsets":

Potential Upsets This Week:

Michigan State over Texas: When will the Spartans become the team we thought we were in the preseason? If it's ever going to happen, it might be Tuesday night against Texas. Remember, in the preseason MSU was ranked #2 over Texas, so this may not be an upset at all if Sparty does happen to win. The key to the game might be Dexter Pittman. In 26 minutes versus North Carolina on Saturday, Pittsman scored 23 points and added 15 rebounds.

Dantheman's December 20th Bracketology Q & A

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 1:36:58 EST

Bracketology | S-Curve Rankings

My latest bracketology is out. Here's my thoughts on the latest batch:

The four #1 seeds are easy to identify. Despite the fact that Purdue and West Virginia are undefeated, at this point it is clear that Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, and Syracuse would be the #1 seeds.

The Mountain West has two teams as #5 seeds. In the end, I doubt that happens, but at this point I feel like both New Mexico and UNLV deserve high seeds.

BUT-XAV controversy is no controversy at all

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:56:48 EST

Most of you probably saw the end of the Butler-Xavier game. To clear up what happened in as few words as possible:

Down one, Butler had possession when the ball got knocked into the backcourt.

Once there, the clock stopped with 14.7 seconds left during mid-play in anticipation of a backcourt violation, but there was no violation because Xavier touched the ball last.

The clock restarts in the middle of the play, with no pause in the action, as Butler runs it down.

My College Football Bowl Picks & NFL Mock Draft

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:49:27 EST

That's right, a little non-basketball coverage from Dantheman. I've completed my college football bowl picks (along with two other guys who write for my site) and my 2010 NFL Mock Draft.

In the bowl picks, I have a couple of upsets. I have UNC taking down PITT, TEM over UCLA, and FSU over WVU. You can see them all here .

For Today's Bowl Games (All my picks ):

Fresno State over Wyoming

Quick Thoughts for Saturday's Big Games

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 1:34:45 EST

I released my newest bracketology on December 13th and hope to release a new bracket tomorrow. Here's my thoughts for tomorrow's three biggest games and their relevance for bracketology:

Games to Watch Saturday/Sunday:

North Carolina at Texas : This should be a great game at the new Cowboys Stadium. If Texas wins it solidifies its spot on the top line with its first signature win. North Carolina could add another win to its resume which right now has a nice W over Ohio State.

Gonzaga at Duke: Interesting fact that may only interest me: Both of these teams have played Wisconsin. Gonzaga won on a neutral floor, while Duke lost in Madison.

Pac 10: Where's a Third Bid Coming From?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:47:25 EST

It appears the Pac 10 is this year’s SEC. Last season, Mississippi State had to win the SEC Tournament to get in and by doing so the Bulldogs saved the conference a lot of embarrassment. For the Pac 10, it looks like Washington is in for sure. California is iffy, but still the second most solid team on paper. Where is a third (or fourth) tournament team coming from?

I don’t like picking on conferences. Actually, I’m totally against conference arguments. The comparisons between this year’s Pac 10 and last season’s SEC exist because there aren't multiple great teams in the Pac 10 this year. Last season that was the problem for the SEC’s teams. Since none of the bubble teams were able to pick up big wins outside of conference, every team was depending on winning games in conference to get into the NCAA Tournament. The problem was that there wasn’t a dominant team to get an impressive victory against.

To the Gators, Tebow: Thank You

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:32:43 EST

This probably sounds corny to half of the people reading. Some will understand, some won't.

As a Florida fan. I have experienced two basketball national championships, two football championships, and a Heisman Trophy winning season over the last five seasons. Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Lee Humphrey, and Al Horford were an incredible team and went back to school for each other , an incredible display of selflessness in today's world shaped by athletes like Carlos Dunlap.

Our football team, outside of Percy Harvin, all returned to try to win another championship.

Tim Tebow was the most selfless person I've ever seen in the national spotlight. Yesterday he cried after losing to Alabama, but who can blame him? Would you not cry in the same situation? I know I would.

Dantheman's Bracketology: December 5th

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:24:47 EST

Tonight's bracket has tons of changes, including Wisconsin and UNLV making a major move. The bracket is being based more and more off of what has happened this season and less off of preseason expectations. A lot of preseason top 25 teams are on the outside looking in right now.

Rising: Wisconsin, UNLV, Texas Tech

Falling: Michigan (out), Minnesota (out)

Tonight's Bracket: http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/?page_id=27

Wednesday Wrapup: Wisconsin Knocks off Duke

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:11:27 EST

How about tonight's hoops action?

The Big Ten wins the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, thanks to the effort of Wisconsin against Duke. Michigan continues to fade with its third loss in six days.

Other big losers tonight were Minnesota, BYU, and Portland.

My recap of tonight's action is here , along with how each win/loss will affect my bracketology (which will be updated soon).

Power 27: Why Purdue is #1, Syracuse is #2

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 0:01:06 EST

The second week of the Top 25 and a Deuce is up and ready for your viewing pleasure. Remember, the poll is not like other polls because it isn't based on past polls, it is based off of performance, and it is mainly a "power" poll meaning there can be very large rises/falls from week to week.

We didn't release a poll last week because we didn't want to with preseason tournaments going on.

Here's week 2 (I can't get the CBS thing to post a URL so copy/paste it).:

http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/

November 29th: Daily Bracketology

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 0:07:49 EST

Link: http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/?page_id=27

Overview: First off I must apologize for not having the “daily bracketology” up over the last few days. On Thanksgiving, I had to be taken to the emergency room and yesterday I had my appendix removed. I was released from the hospital today and got this up as soon as possible. Over the last three nights we’ve had some huge movers. Florida knocked off #2 Michigan State, Portland has rolled through ranked teams, Marquette has knocked off Michigan and Xavier, and Duke beat Connecticut. That leaves us with the Blue Devils as a #1 seed, Florida and Marquette as #4 seeds, and Portland as a #10 seed. There are a lot of changes in the bracket below. Six teams fell out of at large bids and were replaced by six others. At this point the bracketology is 75% on court performance and 25% preseason expectations.

Podcast Preview: Duke vs. Connecticut

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 3:23:08 EST

It's not the best preview in the world, but we put together a Duke-Connecticut podcast preview. If you like the podcast let us know so that we can do more. My bracketology should be up tomorrow night (it's a holiday so I took a day off ) in updating the bracket.

http://www.onlinesportsfanatic.com/?p=359

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

November 25th Bracketology Update

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:37:02 EST

Bracketology: Purdue is now a #1 seed, Cincinnati storms into the bracket

Tonight's Bracket (a little info): We have a new #1 seed in the daily bracketology as Purdue grabs a #1 following its victory over Tennessee. The Vols fall to a #2 seed for now. Cincinnati storms into the field after reaching the Maui Invitational Finals (where the Bearcats will meet Gonzaga). Wisconsin and Arizona, two teams that met last night, have been unimpressive in their two wins in Maui and dropped out of the field. Florida rises a spot for its impressive victory over Florida State. Vanderbilt drops the farthest in this addition in part due to their lackluster play versus Cincinnati (and even for the first half against Chaminade) and in part due to Florida’s win. The Gators take Vandy’s spot in the SEC pecking order at this point.

Dantheman's Bracketology: November 21st Update

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 2:29:23 EST

There weren't a lot of changes tonight, outside of Syracuse's early surge to the top two seed lines. The Orange now own wins over North Carolina, the favorites in the ACC, and California, the favorites (along with Washington) in the Pac 10. For now, that's good enough to vault them to a 2 seed. Two days ago I had them as an 8 seed.

There's weren't many other adjustments tonight though. Mississippi moves in after beating Kansas State and takes the Wildcats spot in the process. Vanderbilt's two point win over St. Mary's gets the Commodores a spot, clearly in the field as a 9 seed. Northern Iowa fell out after a loss to DePaul.

Every other change is mainly things I thought should've been done already. For example, I lowered UCLA to a 10 seed. Right now the Bruins look like an iffy NCAA Tournament team to me. I know that's hard to read, but I said it. If Kentucky can miss the NCAA Tournament, UCLA can. I don't think the Bruins will, but they just might the way their playing now.

Tennessee--Maybe the Most Impressive Team So Far

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 0:23:42 EST

Bruce Pearl has to love what's going on in Knoxville right now. His Volunteers are averaging 104. PPG and allowing just 56.3 a game after three blowouts to begin their season.

Tennessee has made 39 three pointers in three games, an average of 13.0 per game. That puts the Volunteers at fourth best in the country, based on the numbers coming into Friday night. The team numbers are a little skewed a little though. Red hot Scotty Hopson has made 14 of 18 (78%) three pointers this season and is averaging 22.0 PPG. When a player shoots like that, your team three point shooting is usually very high.

While Kansas, Michigan State, Texas, and Kentucky get the national headlines, Pearl's Volunteers are getting the job done better than any other team in the country. That's why the Vols moved up to a one seed in my latest bracketology, although it didn't go over well with the Kentucky faithful. Right now I have Tennessee as the favorites in the SEC and as the top seed in the South bracket.

Dantheman's First Bracketology Update of the Year

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:14:49 EST

LINK: Bracketology: Through November 19th's Games

Before tonight I had been only updating the records on my bracketology. I felt that was the only fair way to do it until each team had at least two or three games completed. Tonight, after three top 25 showdowns, I finally changed seedings and moved teams up/down based on the results thus far. From this point on, expect the bracketology to be updated nightly (like always).

Remember: I know we are only two weeks into the season, but a lot of people love this stuff all the time. They want to know where their team stands at all times. This bracketology is based on what has happened so far, along with preseason expectations. It won't be long before preseason expectations are factored out completely, but at this point they have to be included.

The OSF Top 25 And a Deuce: Kentucky #14

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 1:06:50 EST

Wizardking and I started a new poll on OnlineSportsFanatic.com, that isn't based on any preseason polls. As he puts it:

If you’re expecting a regurgitation of the AP Poll here, I suggest you to any number of college basketball sites that will give you that. That’s not how we do it at OSF. No, at OSF, we don’t base our poll off of the preseason poll. Why? We don’t have one. These are the way the teams should be ranked according to our carefully formulated balance between results and potential. Barring an upset (which could happen) Kentucky (calm down, ‘Cat fans, you’re just an example) will be in the top 5 once again next week. It won’t matter if they turn it over 50 times and win by a total of five points against Sam Houston State and Rider. The AP and Coaches Polls will see Kentucky won twice, and see no reason to drop a team that is 4-0. The OSF T25D will see a young team struggling to find it’s footing, while others win impressively.

Saturday Roundup: Dayton beats Creighton

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:26:47 EST

I was probably one of the few fortunate college basketball fans to see Creighton-Dayton on Saturday, since this weekend was dominated by college football on television. I found the game online and enjoyed the entire thing, as Dayton survived Creighton 90-80.

What did I see?

What I expected to see. Two future NCAA Tournament teams playing tough and making other mid majors around the country proud. Although Creighton played the better first half, Dayton was within striking distance to make a run in the second half. The Flyers did just that, thanks to 25 points from Chris Wright.

Honestly not much else happened on Saturday. After a Friday night filled with games featuring top ranked teams, and some surprising upsets (like Texas A&M Corpus Christi murdering Oregon State), Saturday was pretty quiet. I had Cornell beating Alabama , and they did in Tuscaloosa. Instead of going to that game I chose to watch games at home on my computer. That should tell you how good I expect 'Bama to be this year, although Anthony Grant will turn things around soon.

Creighton-Dayton on Saturday

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 0:43:01 EST

While Ohio State, Michigan State, California, and North Carolina take on powderpuffs to begin their seasons, real games are about to begin.

Not that anyone will notice.

Don’t worry, college football will still be the main story on your TV screen come Saturday. Non-college basketball fans will still be able to roll around in their fall college football, but there will be games that matter in March on the hardwood on Saturday.

For instance, Creighton-Dayton. I know most fans look forward to the Duke-North Carolina type battles between mammoth programs, but these are the games true fans really love. These teams will be fighting for national attention all year long, but won’t get it because they play in mid major conferences.