We did this last year, and it basically came down to a missed free throw by Memphis. (Click on the link to get all of the history from last year.

OK, so let's look at factor number 1.

Free throws.

Only one team has won the championship while shooting under 65% from the line.

So who can we knock out of the top 15 RPI?

No one! Can you believe it?

Pitt (65.5%), Memphis (66.5%) and Louisville (66.4%) are cutting it close.

(Side note. Did you know that in the last three years Memphis went to the elite 8 twice and the championship game last year? Yet they have never won it. I bet they make another run this year. Maybe playing a "soft" schedule in February while the others are beating each other up, allows them to be fresh and ready for the tournament run.)

If you are looking for the flip side, Duke (72.4%) UNC (74.9%) Butler (72.9%) and Kansas (72.7%) are leading the field.

So, we'll move on to the other factors later.

Pitt, Memphis and Louisville...we've got our eyes on you.

As seen on espn.com today...

QB of the future? Buccaneers re-sign McCown

Ouch....

Just listening to the Peter Gammons interview with A-Rod.  And I have some questions.

Why didn't Gammons push him further?

Didn't A-Rod sound like he was following a script?

Doesn't he understand that the fans will forgive him if he is totally honest?  Giving only part of the story (I took PED's, but I don't know which one, I don't know who gave them to me, etc) doesn't work.

We're to assume that the highest paid player in baseball, with all the resources around him, just took anything because the culture was "loosy goosy"?

And why do I even care?  

I don't like baseball that much....

...and I assumed he and others were already using PED's.

I can't wait until five years from now when we are laughing at this quote from Ian Thomsen's article...

Oklahoma sophomore power forward Blake Griffin. The 6-10, 250-pound Griffin is the consensus No. 1 pick and a potential All-Star.

"He's not a polished offensive player, but he's bigger and stronger than everyone he plays against right now,'' a GM said. "And that's another thing in college basketball: It's so small. There are 6-7 centers everywhere and 6-5 power forwards all over the place, and there's just very little size and length. And so that's why some of the big guys aren't quite as good, because they'll have such an adjustment to make in the NBA. But Blake Griffin is strong and quick and athletic, and he plays with intensity. He can't possibly fail.''

Isn't this the equivalent to an AD giving the coach a vote of confidence....

I think fans would love Kobe Bryant so much more, if only he would quit trying to be just like Mike.  We get it, you idolize MJ, but do you have to imitate him in everything you do??

Probably won't happen, but I wanted any paranoid Butler fan to google this and actually get a result.

Actually, I'd love to have him as our coach. But it won't happen.

Oh, one man can dream can't he.....

Prevent or not to prevent....that is the question.

The answer is...it doesn't matter.

Arizona proved that if you play your regular defense, they'll just send Fitzgerald over the middle.

Pittsburgh proved that a prevent isn't always the way to go.

So does it just break down this way......

The offense let's loose. They have nothing to loose.

The defense is playing on edge. Don't give up a big play.

If both teams are playing that way, won't the offense win every time?

Have you ever noticed that Gonzaga will always have one white guy on their team with floppy hair? And the guy is usually pretty good. Caught some of the Gonzaga-OK State game last night. The current floppy haired Bulldog is pretty good. He'll probably fall in line with some of the past.

Current player - Matt Boldin

I'm sure you remember Adam Morrison..

And what about Dan Dickau...

So there's hope to you floppy haired high school seniors out there. Just go play at Gonzaga.

Just a quick update. Let's watch this quote and see if it happens.


'We're going to get better. We're going to be a better team in January than we are right now. We've come out here (to Maui) and played three good halves and one terrible half, the second half against Oregon. That was like a boxing match where they hit us in the nose and we didn't respond. So we talked about being more competitive.'

Let's check back in January and see....

I know you are tired of reading about why we don't have a college football playoff. And right now, I know there are very few articles out there clamoring for one. Except for our president-elect, it seems to be a dead issue.

But just wait.

If Oklahoma beats Texas Tech this weekend, causing an injustice to either Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech, everyone will cry foul.

So I'll keep bringing these issues up in order for you to "inform" those around you when they talk about how a certain "injustice" will force the NCAA to have a college football playoff.

If you have time, read Seth Davis's article about UAB recruit Demarcus Cousins and the fact that he wants a promise from the UAB that they will release him should Mike Davis leave.

(Now where would Davis go???? Maybe 60 miles west down the interstate??? Who knows??)

In the article, Seth Davis details out the one-sided letter of intent process. He wrote about it in more detail here.

In his article last year, he wrote that the Conference Commissioners turned the process over to the NCAA. (Now remember, the LOI is 100% in favor of the schools.) And here's what NCAA president Myles Brand said they would do with the process...

We're just there to reconcile the books. We send out the letters, we collect the information and we turn it over to the schools. So we're doing the paperwork, we're not running it.

Unfortunately for the schools, that hasn't been the case. Here's what has happened since then.

The Conference Commissioners Association handed over the administrative duties of the NLI program to the NCAA in October 2007. NCAA president Myles Brand told me at the time that his organization was only "doing the paperwork," but the NCAA is taking on an increasingly active role. This year, the organization decided for the first time to insert language at the very top stressing that the letter is voluntary. "We want these prospects to know what they're getting into," said the NCAA's Susan Peal, the director of the NLI. "Parents call me all the time [with questions], and I tell them hey, you don't have to sign the NLI. The coach will give you an athletics aid agreement, which has to accompany the NLI anyway. Now, will institutions let you do that? Maybe not, but it's worth asking the question."

So what does that have to do with a college playoff system?

Let's just say the BCS president's start thinking about turning over the football championship to the NCAA, under the promise that the NCAA will just be the "administrators" of the system. Do you think they'll remember how the LOI's have been handled?

Suddenly, the NCAA is thinking about someone other than the schools. (Remember, if a player leaves early, it hurts the school's APR score.) While it might be right, the presidents won't like it.

So there you go. Just one more point to use when the playoff debate comes up.

Remember. It ain't happening.