Rankings, Irrelevant Comments & More (Take 13)

Below is my latest set of Rankings & Irrelevant Comments and then info on how to join my FREE pool for the NCAA Tourney. I hope you laugh and then join.

1. UCONN (27-2)
Best Wins: Miami, at Gonzaga, West Virginia, Villanova, at Louisville, SU
Losses: Georgetown, Pitt

My Irrelevant Comment:
Some people just can’t seem to get over the fact that Coach Calhoun’s salary is $1.6 million. They should really heed the advice of America’s greatest capitalists – The Beastie Boys. “Money Makin, Money Money Makin, Manhattan Super Disco Disco Breakin,” Yeah, that’s not completely right on point, but I do like to quote the Beasties whenever possible.

2. NORTH CAROLINA (26-3)
Best wins: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Clemson, at Duke
Loss: Boston College, Wake Forest, at Maryland

My Irrelevant Comment:
Bobby Frasor’s playing time has been sporadic at best. I really hope he can have a sense of humor about the situation. Like if every time he went to the bench, he looked at Roy Williams and said, “And down goes Frasor.”

3. MEMPHIS (26-3)
Best wins: at Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Tennessee
Losses: Xavier, Georgetown, SU

My Irrelevant Comment
On January 5th, Memphis was not in the Top 25. Then they started playing the pathetic members of Conference USA and have moved up to #3. It is now clear how they can get to be #1 – join the Ivy League.

4. PITT (27-3)
Best wins: at Florida State, Syracuse, ND, WV, at UConn
Loss: at Louisville, at Villanova, at PC

My Irrelevant Comment:
I’m a big fan of Jermaine Dixon for the obvious reason – his hair. Yes, I realize he’s bald. And at least, as of right now, I’m not.

5. LOUISVILLE (24-5)
Best Wins: at Villanova, Kentucky, Pitt, ND, at SU
Losses: Western Kentucky, UNLV, Minnesota, at ND, UConn

My Irrelevant Comment:
So I’m watching the Louisville game last weekend and I see this guy in an all white suit. And I actually think, “What the hell is the Good Humor Man doing in front of the Cardinals’ bench?” Yeah I eventually figured it out. But I still can’t understand what made Al Pacino reprise his role in “Scarface.”

6. OKLAHOMA (25-4)
Best Wins: Purdue, Davidson, Utah, Texas
Loss: at Arkansas, at Texas, KU, at Missouri

My Irrelevant Comment:
Oklahoma has license plates that say, “Oklahoma is Ok.” But when Blake Griffin went down with a concussion people started making some changes. There now the G-Rated version: “Oklahoma is pretty woozy.” And the Pulp Fiction version: “Oklahoma is pretty f#$%ing far from okay.”

7. DUKE (24-5)
Best Wins: Michigan, Purdue, Xavier, Georgetown, Wake Forest
Losses: at Michigan, at Wake Forest, at Clemson, UNC, at BC

My Irrelevant Comment:
I just learned that Cameron Indoor Stadium was named after former Duke AD Eddie Cameron. I really liked it better when I thought it was named after Cameron in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

8. MICHIGAN STATE (21-5)
Bet wins, Texas, Minn., KU, Ohio St., Michigan
Losses: Maryland, UNC, Northwestern, Penn St., at Purdue

My Irrelevant Comment:
Seth Davis just wrote a book about Michigan State’s 1979 championship. Who’s Seth Davis? He’s the guy you see at half-time and wonder, “Why did CBS hire Mitt Romney?”

9. WAKE FOREST (22-5)
Best Wins; Baylor, BYU, UNC, at Clemson, Duke, FSU
Loss: Virginia Tech, at Miami, at Georgia Tech, at NC State, at Duke

My Irrelevant Comment:
At every game the students all wear matching black and yellow tie-dyed t-shirts. Apparently they are going for that intimidating feeling that can only come from a pack of twirling – sunflowers.

10. KANSAS (24-6)
Best Wins: Washington, Missouri, at Oklahoma,
Losses: at SU, UMass, at Ariz, at Michigan St., at Missouri, Texas Tech

I simply can’t root for Kansas because I’m a Clint Eastwood fan. Huh? Jayhawks were the bad guys who tried to kill Clint in The Outlaw Jose Wales. But I’ll start supporting KU if they change their mascot to an orangutan.

OTHER OPINIONS

Harold Barend: Big East - Remember, a fews years ago, when Jerry McNamara carried the Syracuse team to the Big East Tournament championship. What happened after that was a huge upset of Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament--or was it an upset. I contend having the league tournaments as door mats for the NCAA tournament is a major plus for the small schools selected to play in the early rounds. They do not have to a week of grueling tournament play just prior to the NCAAs. The small schools have a week to nurse their injured, and rest and relax their teams.. While the The Big East, and ACC tournaments, for example, will produce a lot of bruised, battered, and bloodied players who will then have to play another week or two in the NCAA tournament.

Mike Wood: UConn - Marquette gave UConn a good battle - Price was shooting out of his mind - going back and forth with McNeil - they do not look for Thabeet enough though - to win like that was big - no Dyson and Adrien was (unusual) a non-factor

Harold Barend (II) Duke: Despite not having a big man of any significance, Duke should be a Final Four contender. Much depends on how they physically survive the ACC tournament. If anyone of their four starting forwards gets hurt, Duke had better pull out the rosary beads.

Bruce Skillin: The NCAA Pool - I'm in the pool. And my shorts are missing! And why is this part of the pool warmer than others??

Harold Barend (III) Syracuse: This is a team full of hope and athleticism. Hopefully Jim Boeheim arranged to have his big center enrolled in: 101 The Techniques of Good Foul Shooting. They could surprise a lot of people and be in the Final Four or surprise a lot of people and be heading home after the first round. Johnny Flynn is getting better with every game. When Syracuse is hot--they are smoking. There isn't another team that can run and gun like the Cuse. Perhaps their best surprise is yet to come.

Thom Devlin: Georgetown- I know no one cares, because neither team is in contention for the Tournament, but I went to MSG on Tuesday night and watched Georgetown lose to St. John's in overtime. (I also was present when Gtown lost to Marquette and Louisville the week before) Georgetown has no heart! I haven't seen it since the Duke game when their slide began. Our win against UCONN earlier in the season....who cares!? Let me take you back to Christmas Morning real quickly though. You remember when you woke up and ran down the stairs to your....computer to check Davebarendcollegehoophumor.com? This is what you read:

7.Gerogetown (9-1)
Best Wins: Maryland & Memphis
Worst loss - Tennessee
My Irrelevant Comment: This week the Hoyas beat Mount St. Mary’s – a school that distinguished itself from St. Mary’s by adding the “Mount”. But now the name seems to suggest that prudish girls named Mary should be, well, mounted.

Well....David--please explain yourself! You ranked my HOYAS 7th in the country, you built up my hopes and made me believe when I shouldn't have. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?




STEPS TO JOIN MY FREE NCAA POOL
1.Email me at davebarend@yahoo.com and say, “I’m up for the pool.” Include your full name.

2. There is no Step 2 – once you email me you are in. I’ll then get you all the info & passwords for the basic bracket format pool that will be run on Yahoo sites.

3.Optional Step – Donate to the pot of the pool (Currently over $690) via the PayPal link at the top of this site above Gabe Kaplan.


Take it easy,
Dave

(Next Rant coming Monday)