Friday, March 19, 2010

Everyone get on board the Jimmer Train

He's as pale as snow, white as you could possiby be and he plays in an area of the country that no one cares about. But he may also be the best player in the tournament that no one has heard of.
BYU's Jimmer Fredette is one of the best players in the tournament and his perfomance against Florida was something to be hold. Fredette scored 37 points leading the Mormons to victory. During the game, Fredette showed his trash talking skills by going after Gators forward Chandler Parsons. The BYU star told Parsons, the only Gators player to ever hit two true buzzer-beaters to clinch victories, "no game winning shots tonight."


After having a solid first two years with the Cougars, Fredette has broken out this year. On December 28, 2009 Fredette scored 49 points against the Arizona Wildcats, setting a new BYU record and a new McKale Center record for points scored in a single game. On March 11, 2010, Fredette scored 45 points, shooting 10-for-23 from the field, and making an 23-of-24 free throws, in his team's 95-85 win over TCU. His scoring broke the Mountain West Conference tournament and tournament single-game records. His free throw shooting broke the MWC tournament free throws in a single game. On March 18, 2010, Fredette helped secure BYU's first round win in the the NCAA tournament. He went on to score 37 points and hit two 3-pointers in double overtime to seal the Cougars' 99-92 win over 10th-seeded Florida, the first time they've reached the second round of the tournament in 17 years.

During the year, I have fallen in love with Fredette and his old school game. He might not be the fasted and most atheletic player in the world but he always gets the job done by getting to the rim and hitting jumpers.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Gang is all here

The Big Dance tips off tomorrow and the NCAA Shop has a great shirt that shows all of the logos of all that teams that are taking part in it. I would order one but since North Carolina is not there is no reason to.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Front Pages: Selection Sunday

The bids have been handed out and some teams are happy while others are not. Here is how some newspapers around the country covered Selection Sunday.




















Sunday, March 14, 2010

OTWT: Bracketology

The Committee has made their choices and the games will start later this week. For the last week, the OTWT Bracketology Department has been breaking down the teams and the numbers. So here we go:
  • Early estimates on Nike Basketball teams by Region: South: 10, Midwest: 12, West: 16, East: 13. 51 of 65, according to Nike Basketball's twitter. They should just rename this the Nike Invitational.
  • I have this feeling that this more double digits seeds will win first rounds ground then any other years. Look at some of the double digits seeds: San Diego State, Florida, Georgia Tech, Cornell, Siena. All have good match ups.
  • For the last team in the tournament UTEP has a really good match up in Butler. Has the makings of a 5-12 upset.
  • What must Kentucky be thinking. Sure a number one seed in the East but a possible second round match up with a team that might be as talented as them in Texas, not what Coach Cal wanted to see.
  • The bottom half of the South Regional sets up perfectly for Villanova and Baylor. There are not that many good teams in that half of the bracket.
  • I have to agree with Jay Bilas on this one, this might be the weakest year for at large teams in the last decade. People can not bitch about Illinois and Mississippi State they have to get more quality wins and they will be in. It's that simple.
  • I was a big fan of them at the start of the season and I will stick with them during the tournament. The biggest upset of the tournament will come when Texas beats Kentucky in the second round in New Orleans.