Sweet 16 all set!

Hey folks!

Wow, what Madness thus far! Wichita State takes the Kansas State title today in a dominating performance! Ron Baker the Dunkmaker and Fred Van Vleet are prepping for a possible rematch vs Kentucky in the Elite 8 from last years amazing game. Probably the best tourney game since Miles Simon v Ray Mercer in the 1997 Title game.

UCLA takes the title as that team that you hate and think has no business in the tourney that makes crashed the Sweet 16 party. Good on ya Bruins. 

Speaking of hate, J-Dawg made a good point to hold off on all the #FireRoy breeze-wax as it's the players' fault and they're on quite a run. So lets go Heels! The Commish is back on the band wagon!

Live action takes had an Arizona team reach some talent potential vs an overmatched Ohio State. PG TJ McConnell has a motor and never takes a possession off. He'll slash to the hole with reckless yet controlled abandon! Gabe York was light out from three point land too. They should outmatch Xavier as they did OSU in the Sweet 16.

Georgetown v Utah was a great game. K-Smack and I snuck into the Georgetown section and happened to get seats right in front of that fan where his team, in this case G-Town of course, never commits a foul and tries to make up every excuse in the book for a Georgetown misplay while basin everything that Utah and the refs do. Yep we sat in front of "that guy". Hate "that guy"! 

But Utah was very very composed with some great big man play, even vs. the Tub of Lazy himself, Josh Smith from Georgetown! Utah was very patient and manufactured great looks from down town. Liking for them to make a longer run. They've earned it.

UNC looked great in the open court vs an equally athletic Arkansas. They have the size and athleticism to give Frank "The Tank" some fits in the Sweet 16. 

I travelled back to the Canadian mother land today missing alto action, but it still goes with out saying, ALWAYS TRUST IN THE IZZO!!!! He says take that Virginia! The Cavaliers defence is a treat to watch, but unfortunately they peaked a bit too early. 

Gonzaga was impressive but not as impressive as Mark Few's post game break dancing hand stand!

And Pitino and the Huggy Bears are witches and getting into Izzo territory....almost!

Have a great week errybody! Big ups Kam on the first place showing! 

Everybody else, you have the work week to get that smack up! 

Yours in Madness,

The Commish 

DAY 2 of Ho-Hum Madness

Well today was pretty much a ho hum Madness day. As goes with most Madness first rounds, one upset day will have the other day be pretty chalk. That is the favorites will mostly win. And such the case was today. So Madness logic dictates to see more upsets tomorrow to open the 2nd round!

For today’s games, Bill Self and Tom Izzo showed why they’re the 2 best coaches in college! The Wichita State vs. KU game in the 2nd round will be a barn burner, but I like KU’s chances purely based on the Bill Self vs. Gregg Marshall coaching match up! Self always grins his way to a Sweet-16 birth!

Speaking of Gregg Marshall. There are minor rumors of Rick Barnes’ job being in danger at Texas and with their loss today perhaps even Tom Crean at Indiana possibly being on the outs. If these 2 jobs open then there will a huge domino effect of coaching changes to fill these huge huge coaching spots and then the big upgrades of other coaches filling the jobs that moved on to take the Texas/Indiana coaching positions. Gregg Marshall would be a top candidate for any of the Indiana/Texas job!

Yet another job that should open up is UNC’s job. This is an almost tiresome take from The Commish, but when Roy Williams admits that he was outcoached and genuinely feels “lucky” that UNC got the win vs. Harvard is another sign that he has to go!!! Shaka, you hearing this!?!?!?

UC-Irvine had a tight game vs. Louisville and damn that 7-6 center for UC Irvine can play! That is, he can walk and chew gum at the same time! Quite impressive.

And Providence! They get the Kent State Award this year for the team that DID NOT show up for the Big Dance! Dayton didn’t show up either, but Providence sucked more in this homer game fro Dayton.

Most of the games tpday were pretty Madness neutral so lets look at the Pool:

Looking at the results and Insanity Pool Standings, there have been only 5 lower seeds upset outta the 32 first round games, and that is including all 8 seeds beating the 9 seed (that seems unprecedented)

Congrats to Cav Whitely holding down first place with 29 games correct outta the 32 first round games. But Cavanagh, one of your incorrect games was picking Georgia over Michigan State!?!?!? Over the Izzo? Coach Izzo? Caffie Caffie Caffie!

And Mr. Andrew Wilkinson, I see your low amount of entries into the Insanity Pool over the years have not been privy to the Commish’s cooler/costanza picking abilities. However, in response to your first day results vs. mine:

It wasn’t my fault that SMU choked away a 7-point lead with 1:25 in the game to lose to UCLA! It wasn’t my fault that there was a Dez Bryant-like call on the SMU goaltending call that definitely turned the tide of the game!

It wasn’t my fault that Cincinnati’s desperation tying hoop went in to force OT!

It wasn’t my fault that #10 from Stephen Freaking Austin didn’t want anything to do offensively other than swing a pass on a reversal and absolutely nothing else vs. Utah!

It wasn’t my fault that VCU had 2 crucial turnovers late in the game as well as missing a wide open trey to tie the game in OT! It’s also not my fault that Shaka Smart is still the Head Coach of VCU instead of accepting the job at North Carolina! Please Shaka, see the Carolina Blue light!

It wasn’t my fault that Harvard’s buzzer beating attempt didn’t go in to put Roy Williams outta his misery and get some pundits to call for his job!

It wasn’t my fault that the refs in the Eastern Washington/Georgetown game wanted to dictate how the middle 20 minutes went drastically towards Georgetown’s way. It wasn’t my fault nor the ref’s fault that the NCAA leading scorer is drastically outta shape and needs to hit a treadmill!

It’s not my fault that the Commish’s results in the Insanity Pool is worse than Andrew Wilkinson.

Its just Madness!

Yours in madness,
Commish A-dish

PS: Get a life Camille? If anyone needs to get a life it’s the well shaved and manicured eyebrows of D’Angelo Harrison from St. Johns! He freaking looks like he seared his face at a Buffalo Wild Wings chicken wang deep fryer! Get a life D’Angelo indeed!

PPS: Fire Roy!

PPPS: Pittsnaaaaw-gle!!!!!!

DAY 1 of PURE UNADULTERATED MADNESS

Game 3 had an upstart Stephen F Austin grind out a tight game vs. Utaaaahhhh although Utah backdoor covered the 6.5 point spread by half a point! Baaahhhhhh!!! SFA had some chances late in the game. If some shots fell, we coulda had some more Madness! Damn damn!

For those of you with Twitter, you woulda seen Utah's 40 year old male cheerleaders...very creepy!

Eastern Washington grinded out the first 10 minutes of the first half and last 20 minutes of the 2nd half with a lull in between vs Georgetown. Georgetown was unconscious from down town and carved space in the paint. The refs didn't help out in the 1st half with some questionable one-sided calls and non-calls. NCAA Leading Scorer for Eastern Washington, Tyler Harvey had a 27 point effort but he was sucking wind early in the 2nd half! How can you be that outta shape this time of year!?!?! 

That paled in comparison to 5th year senior, Josh Smith for Georgetown! What waste of space and big tub of goo! He was a top recruit for UCLA back in the day and looks like he has ballooned to 400 lbs! He got into early foul trouble and good thing as it looked like he was going to have a friggin' heart attack running up and down the court.

Eastern Washington grinded late in the game to make it somewhat interesting but when they were hitting treys and keeping the game tight in the 1st half, there was a real buzz in the building! Almost as much as the luxury boxes going crazy watching the Georgia State game winning trey! Once we heard the cheers, everybody was checking their phones for the updates. 

There was a Tony Romo sighting as well but a buddy with severe beer goggles, mistaking Schmitty as the Romocop himself getting Schmitty a free beer! 

Wow! Whatta Madness thus far! Big ups to Cav Whitely on an early 15 for 16 performance. And typical Commish cooler picks with a poultry .500 performance for today! With the amount of upsets and tight games today, will tomorrow be full of chalk and faves winning with minimal close games?

We shall see! Stay tuned and stay crazy!

Yours in Madness,

The Commish 

2015 MARCH MADNESS PREVIEW - SOUTH REGION

Enter the Chandler Bing question and tone of voice here: “Could Duke’s region beeeeeeee any easier!?!?!?” The answer is no, but this also bodes well for #2 seed Gonzaga as they have a very doable draw leading up to a hopeful Elite 8 game!

#1 DUKE

Jahmil Okafor is the real deal. Their froshies are the real deal, but lack of depth and a lack of still being unable to defend the drive and dish will be Duke’s downfall

#2 GONZAGA

Senior PG Kevin Pangos seems primed to have his coming out party plus the Zags have the deepest front court not named Kentucky! If they get hot then the “slipppppper may still fit” for the Zags

#3 IOWA STATE

Trust in the Cyclones Head Coach, “The Mayor” Fred Hoiberg, but D$ wasn’t impressed in their Big 12 tourney championship vs. KU

#4 GEIRGETOWN

No clue how they’re in the tourney let alone a #4 seed. The tourney committee says, “You’re welcome Duke and Gonzaga!” Like KU, the Hoya don’t have a collective identity but no where near the talent or coaching to make up for it like KU does

#5 UTAH

This team is a mystery, but we shall see them live in Portland with the Smacks and Schmiiddy’s!

#6 SMU

Huge dark horse here with some great under-rated talent with 2 5^th-year senior transfers. Head Coach, Larry Brown has won at every conceivable level of hoops and should show the committee what they missed in not selecting SMU last year

#7 IOWA

Mercurial Head Coach Fran McCaffrey is as much a spazz as South Carolina Head Coach, Frank Martin. Not a fan!

#8 SAN DIEGO STATE vs. #9 ST JOHNS

San Diego State has a more stable team led by Head Coach Steve Fisher with St. John’s having very talented players yet having turmoil with suspensions as recently as last week. The Commish is leaning towards the more stable SDSU!

#10 DAVIDSON

Great record in the Atlantic 10 this year. A surprise team???

#11 UCLA

A second team that no one can believe is in the tourney let alone not getting a play-in game! They scheduled many tough games, but didn’t win many! So why select this team based on strength of schedule and not on results! Shame!

#12 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

Stephen what Austin??? You kiss your mother with that mouth!?!?!?

#13 EASTERN WASHINGTON

Picking these guys on shear principle over the disappointing Georgetown Hoyas. So due to The Commish’s cooler abilities with picks, you’re best bet is to take Georgetown

#14 UAB

Coming outta a hugely disappointing Conference USA this year

#15 NORTH DAKOTA STATE

Have made it to the dance many years now, but so have the Zags!

#16 NORTH FLORIDA/ROBERT MORRIS

Just know that a #16 hasssss to beat a #1 seed eventually! #16 seeds are 0-120 all time vs. #1 seeds, when will this upset happen!?!?!?

2015 MARCH MADNESS PREVIEW - EAST REGION

#1 VILLANOVA

Coach Jay Wright is a favorite of many on the Insanity Report Staff!  They play defense and offer size and physicality at all positions while being able to rain three’s at opportune times. 5^th year Senior, Jayvaughn Pinkston is a massive post player at 260 lbs. but slightly undersized at 6-9. If he stays outta foul trouble he will light some forwards up! ‘Nova has a great mixture of youth and vets and had a solid year in the upstart Big East. Is this the year Jay Wright gets back to the Final 4?

#16 LAFAYETTE

La-good-luck!

#8 NC STATE vs. #9 LSU

2 middle of the pack teams in 2 power conferences. Flip yer coin on this one!

#5 NORTHERN IOWA

Don’t sleep on these sleepers! They go 10 deep many games! Chalk full of seniors and  are a typical mid-major sleeper that prides itself on defense and possession basketball

#5 WYOMING

Surprised many to take the Mountain West tourney and bump a bubble team from being selected into the Madness. Watch out for big man Larry Nance Jr., says Insanity Report Sabermetrician, D$!

#4 LOUISVILLE

They had a great run the past couple years, but Russdiculous  Smith is long gone as is great PG Peyton Siva. All Rick Pitino teams need great guard play and when Louisville loses their mercurial PG Chris Jones to suspension, then this doesn’t bode well for the Cardinals. Guard Terry Rozier can flat out score and forward Montrezl Harrell could take over games…in November. He seems to have peaked too early this season. Coach Rick Pitino has done more with less, but they still need to pick it up

#13 UC-IRVINE

First time ever in the Madness for this Big West Conference Champion

#6 PROVIDENCE

Bar none the best back court that no one knows about in Kris Dunn and LaDontae Henson. They have some size to compliment this dangerous backcourt. Big sleeper pick here

#11 DAYTON/BOISE STATE

Dayton gets to play an extremely rare home game in this play-in game vs. Boise State. Many experts say that Dayton should’ve been a higher seed, so Boise State is in tough vs. a Dayton Flyer squad with Madness experience last year and a 16-0 home record this year. Sorry D!

#3 OKLAHOMA

The metrics like Oklahoma, but I haven’t seen much of this team. Lon Kruger has rebuilt another big name program from obscurity back to respectability

#14 ALBANY

Know less of these kats

#7 MICHIGAN STATE

Never ever sleep on the Izzo! Coach Tom Izzo has the Spartans peaking at tourney time once again with an inferior, overachieving line up led by Brandon Dawson and gamer, Travis Trice

#10 GEORGIA

No clue how they got into the tourney. Izzo is licking his chops!

#2 VIRGINIA

The best defensive team in NCAA since Wreck-it Ralph Sampson was swatting shots 20 rows deep for UVa in the early 80’s! They play all the tight defensive principles that all coaches love, but they also strip the ball 5-6 times a game as the best 1-on-1 defensing team since Michael Jordan in Nintendo’s Bird vs. Jordan!

#15 BELMONT

Historically a team that can rain treys illicit upsets in the Madness, but they are in for a world of hurt vs. Virginia’s defense

2015 MARCH MADNESS PREVIEW - WEST REGION

#1 WISCONSIN

A Final 4 team from last year that is led by Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky who had a target on his back all year to repeat last years performance and he did so and then some! The Badgers are chalk full of veteran talent led by the witch doctor himself, Head Coach Bo Ryan

#16 COASTAL CAROLINA

A strength of schedule ranked 305^th in the NCAA of 355 teams!?!?! Wisconsin will jump around all over the Chanticleers.

#8 OKLAHOMA STATE

They have a great veteran backcourt in the highest-ranking 2011-12 recruit left in the NCAA, LeBryan Nash and solid junior guard, Phil Forte. The Cowboys were sexy favorites last year with this line-up and other seniors, led by NBA’er Marcus Smart but they fizzled all season, eventually losing in the first round. This year, pretty much the same. So the question is, does this talented group turn it around or get rolled in the first round…again?

#9 OREGON

This is pretty much a brand new team for the Ducks this year compared to their 2^nd round Madness run last year. Joe Young can flat out score, so in these always tough #8 v. #9 match ups, the question is do you go with the veteran line up in the Okie State Cowboys or the streaky new lineup in the Ducks? Flip that coin!

#5 ARKANSAS

Don’t sleep on 6-11 Sophomore forward Bobby Portis! He’s athletic in the half-court and full court at close to 7-feet tall, but could use a bit more physical moxy. Jr. Guard Michael Qualls offers some size at 6-6 and can score. The Razorbacks had some close games this year in a slightly under-rated SEC conference and by playing Kentucky twice this year, they have no better measuring stick of what is expected of them to get a long run in the Madness

#12 WOFFORD

Enter in Mike Myers spoken word song from “So I Married An Axe Murderer”: Wooooooo-FORD!!!! Wooooo-ho-ho-FORD!!!! They like to slow play, but like Virginia they are no way!!! They’d like to be Betty’s Barnie!?!?! Wofford tries to play a possession game by slowing the game down, but it works for Virginia and not for Wofford. Arkansas’ size and athleticism should put Wofford in their Whoa-place

#4 NORTH CAROLINA

Rant time! Listen here folks, UNC has 6, count ‘em 6 McDonald All-Americans on their squad, and with 3 other Top 100 recruits! They get the talent that Kentucky gets in every year, and this warrants a Top 15-20 ranking all year!?!?! Head Coach, Roy Williams has done zero to develop this exceptional talent for about 5 recruiting classes now. They are soft and very undisciplined on defense. They will get great runs, but this is based purely on their talent alone! Join the Insanity Report Staff in on the #FireRoy campaign! Thank you Roy for 2 NCAA titles, and you served Dean Smith amicably, but you’re time is up! It’s time to head to pasture. Shaka Smart, yeah you, you know of any good real estate agents in Chapel Hill?? Bring VCU’s Pep Band with you please

#13 HARVARD

Head Coach Tommy Amaker has done a great job in attracting Top 100 talent to Harvard for no scholarship dough! He’s a former Duke assistant who knows as much about UNC as Roy Williams DOESN’T know about the Tar Heel class schedule! Harvard somewhat disappointed some in the Ivy League this year taking the league championship to a one game playoff vs. Yale, but Harvard’s veteran guard play can kill! Senior, Wesley Saunders leads a group of disciplined players vs. an undisciplined Tar Heel squad. Just sayin…

#6 XAVIER

Don’t know much about this personnel but scoreboard watching all year in the hellish Big East have shown Xavier in many tight games coming out on top in some and not so well in others. They grind!

#11 OLE MISS

Holy BYU implosion last night! Ole Miss put it all on the line last night down by 17 points at halftime to rack up 62 friggin’ points vs. BYU to win in a shootout. Don’t expect Xavier to run and jack shots like BYU did, but don’t expect Ole Miss to roll over either as they come in battle tested and running on pure octane-ated adrenalin!

#3 BAYLOR

These guys have been battled tested with 17 games vs. tourney teams this year! They have Canadian talent in speedy guard Kenny Chery!

#14 GEORGIA STATE

Do not sleep on Georgia State! They are chalk full of big name transfers from big name programs, particularly in Louisville transfer, Kevin Ware who most remember as the one who suffered the atrocious lower leg fracture in the tourney 2 years ago. He’s back and he’s contributing! G-State have 2 big scorers in junior RJ Hunter and Kentucky senior transfer, Ryan Harrow who both score 19 ppg and 20 ppg respectively.  Not to mention USC transfer, Curtis Washington, the Panthers could surprise many. However, there were rumors of dissent between Harrow and Hunter this year, so they could also go E! reality show drama before our very eyes! Ahh the Madness!

#7 VCU

VCU had a great non-conference schedule this year with wins vs. Northern Iowa , Oregon and Cincinnati and then somewhat fizzled in their Atlantic-10 conference schedule only to rebound and win the conference tourney! They have the best Pep Band in the world that Insanity Report Staffers, The Smacks, Schmitty’s and yours truly, The Commish will have the pleasure of seeing live and in straight-jackets in the Portland regional! Shaka, please reconsider and go to North Carolina! Your loyalty to VCU is admirable but you have a Tar Heel program to rejuvenate!

#10 OHIO STATE

This match up vs. VCU will be one of the best 1^st round games of the tourney. Ohio State is led by heralded freshmen, D’Angelo Russell who is very very good and entertaining, but if he’s thought of as the one to lead this team vs. a deep veteran laden VCU, then OSU seniors, Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, Trey McDonald and Amire Williams better show up to the dance!

#2 ARIZONA

10-0 record vs. other tourney teams and they get a #2 seed with an overall record of 31-3!?!?!? Ouch, that shows what the tourney committee thinks of the Pac-12 conference! This team is chalk full of McD All-American recruits and a record to boot. Dare I say under-rated fave?

#15 TEXAS SOUTHERN

Any small conference team that beats the Izzo and Michigan State this year in non-conference play is doing something right

2015 MARCH MADNESS PREVIEW - MIDWEST REGION

Lets break it down shall we:

#1 KENTUCKY

What haven’t you heard about Kentucky?? Superfan, Ashley Judd has them losing to the 1995-96 Kentucky Wildcat team and that’s the only team that has a chance. The Harrison twins can shoot clutch treys and they’re frontline players are 6-10, 6-11, 6-11 and 7-0 tall!! Excuse me?!?!? Baking powder!?!? Bottom line is this team has 10 NBA first round picks and all 10 have accepted their roles, so kudos to many of these 10 players swallowing their pride and chasing team history as the first team to go undefeated since Bobby Knight did so with Indiana in 1976

#16 HAMPTON

If they can keep the game under a 40-point beatdown vs. Kentucky then that will be a game the Hampton players can tell their grand kids

#8 PURDUE

Don’t sleep on the Boilermakers! This unheralded line up grinded all year under the radar in the always tough Big 10 conference

#9 CINCINNATI

They lost their coach early in the year that had to step down due to health reasons. They played well in December but have fizzled off lately. Could they have peaked early?

#5 WEST VIRGINIA

You can never count out a Huggy Bear coached squad but they have many injures and are relying on many juco transfers. They have a deep schedule in the Big12 conference, but in discussions with Insanity Report Chalk Correspondent, D$ the question begs, is the Big12 overrated this year?

#12 BUFFALO

They lead Kentucky by 5 at halftime this year! Period! (only to get trounced in the 2^nd half by Kentucky) but that’s still good enough for the Commish to take them as the yearly 12 seed upset

#6 BUTLER

They grinded well in an under-rated Big East conference this year! Very promising results with typical “Butler Way” hoops!

#11 TEXAS

Should not even be in the tourney. Period! Head Coach, Rick Barnes has done less with the highly heralded talent that a big name like Texas gets every year.

#3 NOTRE DAME

This team is a ponzi scheme! An outright fraud team. Chalk full of 5^th year seniors but the Fighting Irish live and die by the trey way too much

#11 NORTHEASTERN

No clue!  Looking at their sked non-conference they had some W’s vs. some big name programs

#7 WICHITA STATE

The Shockers have the most vulgar hand signal since Ross and Monica’s “secret middle finger” yet it’s socially acceptable…now that’s Madness! Wichita have great players remaining from the past 2 years of great madness runs, but their strength of schedule this year has much to be left desired.

#10 INDIANA

This is a great great match-up vs. Wichita State with an under-recruited Hoosier squad, but great veteran point guard in Yogi Ferrell

#2 KANSAS

Coach, Bill Self may be the 2^nd best coach in NCAA behind The Izzo and he has done another great job this year with highly touted yet raw talent. The thing about KU this year is their great players but no real overall team identity except from some clutch guard play outta Kelly Oubre.

#15 NEW MEXICO STATE

Traditionally recruits Canadian talent if you ever feel like jumping on board with this team. But not against the Rock Chalk Jayhawks, right T-Smack!!!?!?