Rankings, Irrelevant Comments & More (Take 14)

Below is my final set of Rankings & Irrelevant Comments followed by some Other Opinions and then, most importantly, info on how to join my FREE pool for the NCAA Tourney. Oh, and the “FREE” part isn’t a joke.

1. NORTH CAROLINA (27-3)
Best wins: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Clemson, at Duke
Loss: Boston College, Wake Forest, at Maryland

My Irrelevant Comment:
When Tyler Hansbrough jumps and grabs a rebound he kicks one of his legs out. First time I saw it I thought he was doing that yoga move – Upward Peeing Dog.

2. PITT (28-3)
Best wins: at Florida State, Syracuse, ND, WV, at UConn
Loss: at Louisville, at Villanova, at PC

My Irrelevant Comment:
A lot of people are thinking of picking Pitt to win it all. I wouldn’t be so sure. Why? ‘Cause I’m thinking of picking Pitt to win it all.

3. MEMPHIS (28-3)
Best wins: at Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Tennessee
Losses: Xavier, Georgetown, SU

My Irrelevant Comment
Though Memphis is ranked #3 is both polls, Dick Vitale has proclaimed them unworthy of any of the four number 1 seeds. If Vitale had his way, the 4 1-seeds would be: Duke, Duke, Duke & Duke.

4. UCONN (27-3)
Best Wins: Miami, at Gonzaga, West Virginia, Villanova, at Louisville, SU
Losses: Georgetown, Pitt, at Pitt

My Irrelevant Comment:
Seems like every time A.J. Price scores, the announcers feel compelled to say “The Price Is Right!” It’d be nice if they mixed it up a bit and occasionally yelled, “Plinko!”

5. LOUISVILLE (25-5)
Best Wins: at Villanova, Kentucky, Pitt, ND, at SU
Losses: Western Kentucky, UNLV, Minnesota, at ND, UConn

My Irrelevant Comment:
In a game last week, Earl Clark scored 12 points. Well, 2 of Clark’s points were for the wrong team. Yeah, he’s been taking some ribbing. His teammates are now calling him “Dick.” Not ‘cause he’s a jerk. Because he’s about as coherent as Mr. “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.”

6. MICHIGAN STATE (25-5)
Bet wins, Texas, Minn., KU, Ohio St., Michigan
Losses: Maryland, UNC, Northwestern, Penn St., at Purdue

My Irrelevant Comment:
It’s now tradition at Michigan State for the seniors to kiss center court at the end of their last game. I’d say they might want to think about changing that tradition. And instead of kissing the filthy floor they should kiss, oh I don’t know, say maybe – the babes with the pom-poms.

7. DUKE (25-6)
Best Wins: Michigan, Purdue, Xavier, Georgetown, Wake Forest
Losses: at Michigan, at Wake Forest, at Clemson, UNC, at BC, at UNC

My Irrelevant Comment:
ESPN kept showing a replay of Coach K and Referee Jamie Lucas knocking heads during Sunday’s game. I guess the producers thought America should see what middle age would look like for conjoined twins.

8. OKLAHOMA (27-4)
Best Wins: Purdue, Davidson, Utah, Texas
Loss: at Arkansas, at Texas, KU, at Missouri

My Irrelevant Comment:
When you hear the last name “Griffin”, what first name comes to mind? If you said Blake, then you’re clearly a college hoop fan. If you said Merv, then you are clearly old. If you said Kathy, then you are clearly pathetic. And if you said Peter then you are clearly disappointed with the level of humor I’ve provided.

9. WAKE FOREST (24-5)
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:
The average height of the starters on the Demon Deacons is about 6’ 6”. That’s like a bunch of trees. Boy would it be great if the school was called something like the Wake Bunch Of Trees.

10. WASHINGTON (24-7)
Best Wins: UCLA, at ASU, ASU, Arizona
Losses: at Portland, at Kansas, at Florida, Cal, at AZ, at Cal, at UCLA

University of Washington is a bit miffed over its less than stellar academic ranking. I really think they should have seen it coming though. I mean, their logo is “W”.

OTHER OPINIONS

Jim Richens – Memphis: Multiple sources confirm that DeMarcus Cousins committed to Memphis yesterday afternoon. He's the #1 high school center in the country. He joins ESPNU's #1 overall high school player, Xavier Henry and top-20 prospects, Nolan Dennis, Will Coleman and Darnell Dodson in the Memphis fall class. Memphis will win the national championship in 2010. Period. Mail it in.

Mike Wood – URI: Went to the URI vs UMass game on Sat at the Ryan Center - great game - UMass guard Lowe - hit a (full-court) drive with a second or so left on the clock to win the game 72-71 - very impressed with URI 6'3" guard Jimmy Baron - who scored 22 points (16 in the 2nd half, also became the 3-pt career scoring leader in the game) - and can he shoot the 3 - back in Nov. he hit 7 consecutive 3's vs. Duke.

Ken Robbins - The Pool & GMU: I'll make my annual $25 donation and will proudly watch the end of March come and go as I piss away another 25 bones! I would have donated $27 if George Mason made it in but sadly they got wrecked tonight down in Richmond by VCU which is where VCU lives........big time home court advantage if you ask me. I say move that CAA tourney around folks!

Pete Frey - Providence: Control their destiny need to beat Lville

Dan Ison – Providence: If they don't get blown out by Louisville they can at least cross their fingers and hope on Sunday afternoon. Then it just depends on what happens in the other conferences - need early round upsets of other bubble teams (Minn, URI, SDS, UNM, USC, Kentucky) and no more freakin' Cleveland States.



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 at $849.13) via the PayPal link at the top of this site above Gabe Kaplan. And, no, I’m not taking a cut.

Take it easy,
Dave