SouthSideRyan

Re: the last post, Sorry Bradley, I forgot that was a neutral game. Anywho, Texas Tech with a big win, but if they slip up against Baylor or at Iowa St., they're gonna wind up being a 13 loss team looking for an at large and that could be tough. They'd probably still make it, but it wouldn't be a great position to be in. OK St. I don't think is out of it like everyone's claiming. The home loss to Mizzou is troubling, as is the loss at Colorado, but taking 2 of their last 3 (KSU, at Baylor, at Nebraska) gives them 20 wins, and 1 game in the Big XII tourney I think might be enough. Though with the way they've been playing lately, that sounds like a pretty tough feat to pull off (lost 4 in a row and 6 out of 7) Clemson is now 2-9 after starting 17-0. But when looking at their overall profile they really aren't an automatic out. They're gonna have to win at VA Tech to stay alive though. The SEC West is terrible, and Bama's the only team that really has an argument to make it. They probably will, and Ole Miss might come close, but I really don't think they deserve it. If Gonzaga makes it as an at large it'll be criminal. Air Force's terrible loss to TCU is gonna hurt BYU and start pushing them back towards the bubble, especially if they don't win at SDSU tonight. Creighton absolutely has to beat Wichita, or else I think they're flat out done as an at large.

Hey Mizzou, Thanks, we didn't want any remotely quality wins away from home anyways.

Steve Nebraska?

Well there goes my hopes of a FT contest between Shaun Pruitt and Mata to pull of the 2nd round upset of you guys. You think Illinois is going to be an 8-9 seed? Winning until a loss to OSU/Wisky in the tourney might do it. The RPI shot up to 32 today. Not what I'd call likely, but possible.

Stanford still looks okayish at 17-9 but I wouldn't tempt fate if I were them coming away with only 1 of the last 3.(At UCLA vs. Zona, vs. ASU) That very possible scenario leaves them at 18-11 entering the Pac 10 tourney, and probably needing a first round win to feel safe. USC looks in good shape despite the terrible loss to ASU. The RPI is sketchy at 58, but splitting vs. Cal and at fading Washington puts them at 21 wins and a likely 3rd place finish in the Pac 10. That should be pretty much a lock. Butler lost its chance at a top 4 seed tonight losing to its 3rd team with an RPI in the 100s.(Possibly 4th depending on how far Wright St. drops after losing to Youngstown St. Other than that you've got Oregon locking a bid, Washington and Cal locking an NIT(maybe nothing for Cal), and Clemson continuing its freefall.(2-8 since starting 17-0 with trips to VA Tech and BC left on its schedule)

3, 4 years down the road is when you make this highsight assessment, and I'd have kept Aldridge before I would've drafted Roy. It's been awhile since I mentioned it, but I REALLY wanted Aldridge.

Well there goes my hopes of a FT contest between Shaun Pruitt and Mata to pull of the 2nd round upset of you guys.

Carlwell might be back for the Big 10 tourney, so hopefully he'd be good to go for an NCAA tourney game. The team would be evaluated without Smith, but he wasn't nearly the factor this season that I had hoped for/expected, so it shouldn't hurt them too much.

I can't decide if the ACC is the best conference in the country, or somewhere around 4th-5th.

I sure hope we win our last two games then at least one in the Big Ten tourney Man, it's been a long time since we've entered the big dance as a #11 or lower seed, but if we lose two of the next three (one of the last two and the first B10 tourney game) we may be lucky to get that. Losing 2 of the last 3 and we're done, I've become convinced of that over the past week. We should be back ahead of Purdue after their loss to Iowa tonight, but we'll have to win at Iowa to stay that way. Winning those last 2 regular season games should put us as a 3 or 4 in the Big 10 tourney. (I'm not sure how tiebreakers work. We split with IU, so if it then becomes total record, we'd have it) I'm assuming an MSU loss at Wisconsin, and then it depends on what happens with IU at MSU, a game I think MSU wins. It wouldn't mean much for matchups as those 5-6-7 spots are going to come from the mess of mediocrity in the middle, but it would be nice to have 10 conference wins, and being the #3 team in a conference that's looking more and more like a 5-6 bid conference could not hurt at all. EDIT: And yes that game at PSU is starting to terrify me, although I think them putting up close games against OSU twice, will at least make the team realize they aren't some cupcake to mess around with.

Illinois wins it by 12 effectively eliminating Michigan.

You can offer your own free agents arbitration. If they decline, that's where draft pick compensation comes into play and the team who loses that player will get a pick or 2 if the player is rated at a certain level of all MLB players.

Does anybody actually have ESPNU? We had it in our sports package down at schoo, but that's the only way I know of anybody getting it.

Warren Carter has finally worked his way into my good graces after 3 years of just despising everything about him. He still does travel once per game 25 feet away from the basket though, which is about the most infuriating thing to watch next to this team's free throw shooting.

This is totally my own braindead speculation, but this along with all the talk in ST about Z's extension is making me think he has no intentions of leaving, and the Cubs are going to wind up with a very team-friendly deal because of it.

I don't think it's just you. He seems to have a real arrogance about him. The way he talks, you'd think he's built an absolute dynasty. Between he and Guillen, it's not hard to dislike that team. Not because they are "rivals" of the Cubs (I don't consider them to be rivals), but because they are both clowns. Williams has been talking like that since he took over the job, it has nothing to do with them winning in '05. Yeah, and he was awful for his first seasons. His moves have looked really good the past couple seasons, but his ego far outweighs his accomplishments. Although I don't care for a lot his moves but he's never had a sub .500 team. He also took over a division winner.

What kind of crap? Jesus Christ, it's as if people who question the diety that is Aramis Ramirez are completely idiotic for mentioning that it doesn't look good that he's the only one who doesn't show up early. Am I saying that he's an ass for not showing up early? No. Am I saying that I like him less for not showing up early? No, in fact he's one of my favorite Cubs. Am I saying that it doesn't look good? Yes. And it doesn't. He signs a fat contract (at a discount, yes, but still fat) and he's the last to arrive to ST. That's not the way to win over the fans that got on him last year. how does it look bad if he's not late, yet? that's the confusing thing about all of this. and using your own "real-world" logic, if you're scheduled to work at 8am on monday, does it look bad if you show up at 8am on monday, what would you accomplish by showing up at 8am on sunday? "What do you think of people who only do the minimum?" How much free overtime do you work?

Win 2 of the final 3 and one win in the Big 12 Tourney we're in, no doubt. 2-3 gets us fourth in the Big 12 and a Big 12 first round bye. I'm not sure I'd say no doubt. That still leaves nothing but wins over other bubble teams and losses to 4 teams who are no doubt not tourney teams.

And yes, I feel very dirty having just rooted for Kansas. Self looks like he's gained some weight, and his toupee line is receding. So at least there's that.

K-State hangs with KU but loses a game that would been huge for their tourney hopes. They remain teetering on the bubble.

That was the point I was attempting to make.

Argh, fantasy keepers due soon.

Noah existed.

Drive to 65 still has them as a lock, but I've got to push Creighton back to the bubble after losing at home to Drexel. They can't slip up in their last 2 games or take a 1st round exit in the Valley tourney. Should the Valley get a 3rd bid, I'm guessing it'll come down to the conference tourney, cause Bradley's been the hotter team down the stretch and has the better computer numbers, but Missouri St. swept them in the regular season.

All your break even points proved is that it's stupid to steal 3rd with 2 outs, which is pretty obvious. Everyone's overreacting to the thought that he might try and steal 3rd a few times and treating it like he's gonna attempt it 20 times a year. It's not a horrible idea in the right circumstances, which come up far more often than 1 out of 1000 times.