Friday Night Madness

Ok one round of sweet 16 games down and one more to go. Before we get into today's games lets look back at last nights match-up. We were 1-1 in our recommended games 1-1 in our "gun to the head games".

Looking back despite scoring 28 points the presence of Kyrie Irving seemed to have a negative impact on Duke. There normally efficient offense looked out of sorts all night and having Irving in the line-up seemed to nullify Nolan Smith who had been the emotional leader of Duke all season long. As many people predicted Duke struggled with a more athletic and long Arizona team that after hanging with Duke in the first half dominated the second half.

Butler just keeps on rolling as they beat a Wisconsin team that just looked awful on offense! Brad Stevens once again showed he is the BEST game coach in the country. Give him a week to prepare and he isn't going to lose many. Butler is going to be a tough out in this tournament.

In the other 2 games as we predicted here Florida avenged last years loss against BYU but it was not easy. Using a few more big bodies throughout the game paid off in overtime as Florida appeared to be the much fresher team. The Jimmer run ends but he is what the madness is all about, and yes he can play in the NBA, because he can create his own shot better than any college player in the game today. In one of Coach Calhouns's best coaching jobs in his long storied career a very young UConn team advanced past San Diego State led by Kimba Walker who is having as good a run in this NCAA tournament as anyone.

On to today. We have two picks again for you today one side and an over/under. First we will go with UNC and the fairly short price of -4. This is a very bad match-up for Marquette. First they like to run and that plays right into the transition game of the Tar Heels, and Marquette will have no answer for Zeller and Stevens inside. Take the Heels.

We will also take the under in the FSU/VCU game. The Seminoles have the best defensive FG% in the country and will force VCU to grind it out every possession. We think this will be a very close low scoring game, give VCU a look at +3 but take the under 131.

The other two games we don't have a very good feeling about as both games have inflated lines. We would lean to Richmond +10.5, but would not risk our hard earned money. The other game has an inflated line after Ohio State crushed George Mason minus their best player. We like the Buckeyes to win but the -6 and increasing by the minute line is to high and over priced.

Good Luck and we will be down to 8 after tonight.

Jdawg.

The Madness Returns Sweet 16 Picks

Ok we are down to the sweet 16 so lets take a look at the 4 match-ups tonight:
I have two games I really like tonight and will be investing my own money. The Florida Gators will avenge last year's NCAA tournament loss and beat BYU. Last years stinging double ot loss to the Cougars is still very fresh on Florida's mind and I expect a monumental effort from the Gators, and at a relatively short price of -2 we will take the Gators. Don't forget BYU lost in December to UCLA a team Florida had litttle trouble dispatching on Saturday.

I also expect the NCAA Tournament magic to end for Butler tonight and we will take the Wisconsin Badgers -4.5. This game will feature two of the brightest coaches in the nation who make the most out of their talent. We think Wiscy can go inside and have the guard play to deal with Shelvin Mack. The Badgers have some of the best foul shooting in the nation and this should allow them to extend the lead.

The other two games we will not bet, but if you put a gun to my head I would take the points in both games. The San Diego State Aztecs are playing less then 90 minutes from home and should have a partisan crowd in their favor. That should be enough to beat a young but very talented Uconn team.

I would also take Arizona +9. I think the Wildcats have enough talent to hang around and former Xavier coach Sean Miller has plenty of experience in the sweet 16. Duke will win but it will be closer than expected.

Enjoy the games and good luck!

Sweet 16 Broadcast Schedule

Thursday, March 24

7:15 p.m, CBS, Anaheim: San Diego State vs. Connecticut - Lundquist/Raftery/Visser

7:27 p.m., TBS, New Orleans: Florida vs. BYU - Johnson/Elmore/Miller/Snider

9:45 p.m., CBS, Anaheim: Duke vs. Arizona - Lundquist/Raftery/Visser

9:57 p.m. TBS, New Orleans: Wisconsin vs. Butler - Johnson/Elmore/Miller

Friday, March 25

7:15 p.m. CBS, Newark: North Carolina vs. Marquette - Nantz/Kellogg//Wolfson

7:27 p.m., TBS, San Antonio: Kansas vs. Richmond - Albert/Kerr//Sager

9:45 p.m., CBS, Newark: Kentucky vs. Ohio State - Nantz/Kellogg//Wolfson

9:57 p.m., TBS, San Antonio: Florida State vs. VCU - Albert/Kerr//Sager

Buckle up and get ready - the Madness resumes Thursday night!

1st WEEKEND RECAP - Insanity and Smacktitude!

(sigh) Where to start? Seriously where to begin, but with the utter spazzness of the results of this past weekend.

Louisville was this years Kent State, coming in with some clout and showing absoultely NO HEART when it counted!!!....This was compounded when Louisville Head Coach, Rick Pitino rubbed salt in that wound by showing up on set of the CBS Madness panel no less than 48 hours after his supposed worst loss of his career!! Coach Pitino, tell us how you really feel about that loss? Pitino does his best Jerry Seinfeld imitation and responds, "mmmm-That's a shame!.....now get me to makeup." No class Pitino! It is now no shock as to why your team showed no heart v. Morehead State.

And spazz #2 is the ousting of Morehead State at the hands of Richmond. You had a nice run, "I (heart) Morehead" T-Shirt Girl!!!

We at the Insanity Report Headquarters at the Insanity Towers on the 33rd Floor believe that the success of a program or any team is dictated from the top down. And much blame should go to the many a coaching staff other than Coach Arm-Pitino!

Pitt's Jamie Dixon? Butler's Brad Steven's? Consider yourself on a Stephen Colbert-like "on notice" board??? hmmm, lets think about that...

Everyone is still talking about the ending of the Butler-Pitt game. 7 seconds left, Butler has the game rapped up. Pitt does a half-court hail mary and Gilbert Brown gets fouled by Butler's Shelvin Mack with 1.4 seconds left. Brown, hits the first end, and boom, tie ballgame. After Gilbert Brown misses the second foul shot, Butler's Matt Howard gets the rebound and Nasir Robinson does the unthinkable and fouls Howard just 0.4 seconds from having the game go into overtime! Howard makes the first throw and misses the second one on purpose to eat clock and send Butler into the locker room with the awkward Coach Stevens/Butler players' celebration and (yawn) another Sweet 16 birth for the Butler!

So lets get it over with. Who do we blame for this "debacle"?

The Refs? Naw, even the stripes can't be thrown under the bus for this. Moreover, that was pathetic how under the guise of journalism, every media member covering this game indirectly blamed the refs for making these last second foul calls, in the initial post-game reaction. They wussied around with their questions with each other and everyone, essentially blaming the refs for doing their effing jobs! The media members eventually came to the correct conclusion that the fouls at the end of the Butler/Pitt game were obviously fouls. And parading the NCAA Head of Referees onto the CBS panel to try to get a comment out of him and possibly corner him into admitting any referee incompetence had Jim Grey Ratness written all over it. (Coincedence that Rick Pitino just came onto the panel?)

K, so refs are outta the way. How 'bout Shelvin Mack and Nasir Robinson being freaking idiots for making those fouls!?! They're not idiots. There! But I don't think I'm alone when I say that the initial emotional response to those fouls when it came to one's brackets and/or bet made for many a name calling to Shelvin and Nasir. Mack is vindicated with his Sweet 16 birth and Robinson has to live with that foul for the rest of his life. That should be enough for him and his Pitt teammates. So name calling is above even a Jim Rome "bracket-guy" nerd such as myself.

Refs? Check. Players? Check. Coaches? Unleash the MTV-generation, "I mean, like right!?!?!?" call. Well, the success of the program is indeed dictated from the top down.

This is again evident in Bruce Pearls firing from Teenneessee today. (The end result was the "under" bet on his firing 7.5 days after their no-show v. Michigan....Pearl's essential mooning to the NCAA investigators and opening round no-show gave Tenneeesseeee no choice but to can Pearl's used-car-salesmen ass!!) Pearl was under investigation for holding a team bar-b-q at his place and for the constant mistake in Teenneessee's spelling. One of those is actually the reason for his NCAA violations! Whoa!

But back to the Butler/Pitt fiasco. Pitt Head Coach, Jamie Dixon should have had all Pitt players either off the key during those throws or instructed to "NOT FOUL!!" Shelvin Mack should have known after countless hours of Brad Stevens-led practice to know the situation and not foul Gilbert Brown!

But it's not the Coaches fault!

It's NOBODY'S FAULT!

We all love March Madness for the Insanity of it all. The upsets! The buzzer-beaters! The Gus Johnson! And why? For the mere fact that March Madness and NCAA College Basketball is FULL OF FAULTS!!! So, refs, go tell the media to suck it! Players, you're players, keep playing. Coaches, keep coaching. You all will make mistakes, and in that, is the utter INSANITY of March Madness!

Insert "Growing Pains" end-of-an-episode moral message......or just get another cheesy Jerry Springer "Final Thought" moment...."IT'S THE IMPERFECTIONS OF ALL THAT IS INVOLVED IN THE MADNESS THAT MAKE MARCH MADNESS PERFECT!...TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, AND EACH OTHER!" Somewhere, Tery McKaig is seen grabbing a chair from bouncer, Steve Wilkos and jetting it Adolph's way. "Adolph you're an idiot!"

However, a for-real Colbert-like "on notice" shout out has to go to Gonzaga Head Coach, Mark Few!! Few, you are indeed an idiot! Player's make mistakes, they go out and make a 5-second violation ala Texas' Cory Joseph at the end of the Texas/Arizona leading to 1st Team All-Adolph member, Derrick Williams to make his clutch And-1! But, the Gonzaga early exit has to do with your tutlage and tactics from your top coaching position, down to the players!

Few, consider yourself exposed! You've shown that you could always recruit diamonds in the rough. It's been evident in the past decade from Dan Dickau to Adam "Porn-stache" Morrison. And it was evident in 7-0 WING Kelly Olynyk. Few, you have a potential biggest weapon in the whole Madness with a 7-0 player who's strength's are off the wing and not in the blocks. He has shown well-above average Basketball IQ on offence and defense despite his obvious lack of speed. Just because, he's 7-0 doesn't mean you camp his ass in the blocks! This take has already been said. Kelly is a stud, and here's hoping he transfers out of Few's stinking program!

I mean Few, you have a great resume. Over a decade long dominance in the WCC and many great March Madness runs and moments. But witnessing this years debacle of player rotations, never gave your Gonzaga Bulldogs a chance to flourish. It took you 3 months to realize that David Stockton was your PG. And your blind loyalty to defensive/turnover liability, Demetri Goodson and to the inconsistent play of Elias Harris and Steven Gray led to this early ouster! Few, you had one of the deepest bench in the nation led by a potential Dirk Nowitski-dominating player in Kelly!

This freaking stinks to put Few 'On Notice' because the essense of the Mid-Major Mojo has alot to do with Few's contributions over the years, but this year is one to be forgotten for Few! Pick yo' game up Few! You have the summer. Now go!

So we straight!

And speaking of mistakes, how 'bout those brackets? Mmmm-ouch! And awesome too! Big ups go out to the Top 3 in the Insanity Pool current standings, one Tati Salgado, Tina Lum and Carrie "Water, I'm not an ER Doc" Watts! And a Florida Gator-type repeat run still possible for Ivan Bokanovic tied for 4th!

And speaking of game. How 'bout this weekends Smack? Terry McKaig, is "not really into this smack talk thing" but T gave it a go. A Cav Whitely deflection-hook followed by more PG-upper cuts! T was called out and he stepped up!

Jerry Hall. You're first forray into the Smack Fray. Big ups for stepping out of the dugout, but next time bring your Louisville-slugger rather that that nerf-bat of yours to the plate! Back to the drawing board. I know you can step up Jerry!

Original Commish, Kevin Outhet? Showing that we Commishs ride together and are forever Allies in Smack! You see T-(almost)Smack McKaig, PG is all around! The world is not all stinky Ladner marshes! It's filled with PG skidness! PG hick-ness! and PG red-neck-ness! So when you see that long-haired moo-layed, greasy PG-kat wearing the red and black lumberjack with the steel-toes to match, feel free to greet him or her with a "F&*$-ing rights!"

And J-Paq, you mention an establishment in Oakville referred to as the "PG"? Enter the Bruce Pearl weasel response of, "I can neither confirm, not deny" any involvement in a PG-Oakville establishment. All I can recall, however, is a fellow by the name of Dell with hands out under the cash dispensor of an ATM and the sound, "ppff-ddddddtthh dddddd-rrrr-dddd dddrrr-ddddd!!!!" And those who are in the know, know!

That's it for now. Gotta go back to the basement. Gotta get some rest. We have this weekends games. And before that, the 2011 All-Adolph 1st/2nd Teamers and Outhet Player of the Year presentation!

Bring the Smack! And K-Smack, T-(for real)Smack and Schmitty.....the Insanity Pool Universe is looking forward to your Denver regional Smack and thoughts!

Your Brother in Smack,
Commish A-Dish

Saturday = Chalk, Sunday = Dogs

ND shooters felt overwhelmed by Florida St. today

Wow!  The first weekend of the 2011 Madness is in the books.  Hard to believe we have already had 52 games with only 15 more remaining.

Interesting weekend with completely different results between Saturday than Sunday.

First there was chalk Saturday.  The higher seeded teams were a combined 7-1 SU & ATS - Pittsburgh was the only team to not follow this trend in their last second loss to Butler.  Favourites ruled the day and the OVER so the sportbooks took a beating.

We should have realized that Underdog Sunday was going to happen.  The higher seeds were taken down all day - going 2-6 ATS.  (4-4 SU)

UNC and Duke were able to survive the tourney but did not cover. Big East powerhouses ND & Syracuse not only didn't cover, but lost straight up.  A surprise upset by #12 VCU sent #3 seeded Purdue packing and #4 Texas also found a way to lose a game late to #5 Arizona.

The sportbooks had a very good day today at our expense and we will be eager to get this back on Thursday.

Now onto the Sweet 16 which starts on Thursday.  Three #1 seeds remain in the field, along with three #2 seeds so 75% of the tourney favourites survived.  We have six underdogs seeded #5 or lower in the sweet 16 and may be worth fading in the coming days as the clock should be getting closer to midnight for a few of these Cinderalla teams.

Get some rest, regroup and get ready for Thursday.  We all deserve it.
D$ OUT

Zebra Madness & Jimmer Time

Wow!  Some really close games including a #1 seed falling (CRASH.... the sound of broken brackets are still being heard everywhere!!!) we have been treated to an interesting afternoon of hoops.

As Jdawg says, "Zebra Madness", in the Pitt vs Butler game with 3 fouls in the final 8 seconds led to crazy swings of emotions and an improbable finish. Pitt has no one to blame but themselves who dug themselves a big hole in the first half and couldn't sustain the lead when they had it in the second.

Butler was able to cover the 7.5 point spread and the total easily went OVER 128.

Jimmer Time!
BYU destroyed Gonzaga by a surprising 24 points led by a possessed Jimmer Fredette who went off for 34 points.  Jimmer made some unbelievable shots and lived up to all the hype.

Gonzaga dominated in the paint, but couldn't guard the BYU guards who were 14-29 (48.3%) from beyond the arc. Great matchup with BYU taking on Florida in the sweet 16 coming up!

So the Zags not covering makes us 3-1 for the day, (good with Kentucky, Florida, & late magic by San Diego St.).   Looking for a strong finish with Wisconsin and UConn to make today a good one.

Sunday Spreads:
An early look at the spreads for tomorrow has an interesting 9:15am matchup with UNC -4 against WAS.  The total has been set to amazing 158!  Is it high enough or maybe a bit too high?

With VCU on a roll, is Purdue -9.0 a bit high?

Spending some time to break this down.  Lates.  D$ OUT

Go Zags!

Lots of chalk to start off Saturday with Kentucky and Florida earning late (read: high sweat factor) covers.   Sadly, the (I Heart) Morehead run appears to be over, impressive showing by the Spiders.

We hope to see our first upset of Round #3 when North Vancouvers own, Robert Sacre, and his Gonzaga Bulldogs take on Jimmer Freddette and BYU.  (Tip time approx 5:00pm PST)

Trying not to be biased we like the the Zags (-1.5).  Here is a breakdown seen on pregame.com which we liked:

This looks like a strong play after watching BYU absolutely struggle against Wofford. Not one single role player wanted to step up for BYU and help Jimmer out on Thursday and I dont think Jim can do it himself against Gonzaga. The Zags rolled Saint Johns and I think they continue that dominance against a BYU team that looks a bit lost. I like the inside presence that Sacre and Sam Dower will bring on the inside in this game not too mention guards Gray and Harris should be able to do whatever they want offensively against a weak BYU D. I truly believe this is the year Gonzaga reaches the Final 4. Big play for me and the only way this stays close is if BYU is on fire from beyond but I doubt that will happen.

Gonzaga 81--BYU 6

Go Zags!  More to come!

DAY TWO THOUGHTS

Well, we had a great start to the day with Gus calling a tight finish with the 'Nova/G-Mace game. He had one killer call going into a timeout after a G-Mason rebound dunk yelling, "HUSTLIN'!!! FIGHTIN'!!!! SCRAPPIN'!!! JAAAAAAHHH-MIN'!!!!" Just another day at the office for the Gus Karma....owning it!!!! See, the thing with Gus is his defcon levels match that of the Madness and that of the straight-jacket tearing Inmate reading this take! Rise-n-fire Gus, Rise-n-fire!!!!

And speaking of the 'Nova game, talk about an implosion with their free throws late in the game. G-Mase made some shots and weathered the 'Nova choke job to move on. G-Mason weathered that choke job like Paulsen and Foucher weathering Adolph's choke job eating the KFC Box Meal....Paulsen say's, "Hey Adolph, I know it's a freaking Big Crunch with 2 pieces of original recipe chicken, but slow down before you choke like Villanova!!" Good point Paulsen, good point! Sof was there too, by the way, she said, "MMM, I LOVE A BIG CRUNCH! IT SOOTHES MY "DEEP VOICE"-VOICE, NOW KISS ME CHRISTOPHER!!!"

Back to Madness, I heard the end of Arizona/Memphis game on the radio and talk about another typical Madness game. Chuck Barkley was speaking some truthes about Memphis being tiny and Derrick Williams having the advantage in the paint for Arizona before the game started. But, typical Madness game, turning things for a loop. By the time I left the Asylum, and had to listen to the rest of the game on the Insanity-mobile radio, Memphis had more points in the paint than Arizona. Derrick Williams was solidifying his spot on the All-Adolph 1st Team with his hoops in the paint, but he left alot to be desired on the defensive side for J-Dawg. Then, Williams steps up and hits a rare 3 late in the game. Typical Madness game.....you can have all the intel in the world....get some trends in, and the Madness will turn that into a 180 and smack you in the straight-jacket!

After that, I was relying on many a update from allies in Madness. Thanks Cait and Leigh. And no thank you phone battery!

Georgetown fizzled v. VCU. Any Smack on that?

The Bruce Pearl watch is on. Over/under on his firing is set at 7.5 days. Beat it Pearl. A fitting end to a tainted run at Tennnesseeee with the worst loss of his career getting smoked by Michigan by 30. The Vol's gave up! Pearl is so lowly regarded at this point that the NCAA is tacking the Double-Letter Viloation on his rap sheet! That's pushing it, but damn it, when do you double letter and when donn'tt yoouu on Teennesseee!?!?!?

Duke went Duke. The box score showed Kyrie having a game. Welcome back Kyrie. You are a Dukie, but probably the best player in the nation. Any smack on how this affected Nolan Smith? He only had 9 points.

Looking at the Georgia/UDub game, the Dawg's limited their turnovers, so how did they not cover vs. the Bulldogs? Bueller? Bueller? Vitale? Did they find another way to shoot themsleves in the foot? That's been their m.o all year.

And then there's the 'Cuse? Boeheim, you're an idiot! Roll with that T!

Tomorrow has some great match-ups. A real even match-up in West Virginia and Kentucky. West Virginia's 2010 Final 4 experience vs. Kentucky's young talent. The Huggy Bear v. Crap-apari!

UCLA should bow down to the Gator Nation. Pitt should put the Butler back into the kitchen.

Oh, the Zag's v. Jimmer! Get your mid-conference on mid-conference violence on!!!!

Big East 2nd round matchup anyone? Cincy with bruising Gates in the blocks vs. Kemba.

Aaaaannnd, Morehead State v. Richwhat?!? Rich-More Madness!!!! K-Smack, T-Smack and Schmitty, let us know if our T-Shirt Gal is in attendance again and invite 'er to the "I (Heart) Morehead" Insanity Facebook Group!

That's it. Go Madness and go Birds v. Congordia! Bunch of gords!!!

Commish out!