Tuesday March 06, 2007

CFL; 18-Game Schedule; Coach K; Bubble Watch

College Football Live
I was glad to read where ESPN is planning a daily show to air weekday afternoons at 3:30 EST covering college football. The show will be called College Football Live and will be hosted by Reece Davis and will cover the entire college football world starting this summer. The 30-minute show will be formatted like NFL Live and NASCAR Now.

18-Game Schedule
It appears the ACC will go to an 18-game schedule next season in men's basketball. Since the league expanded with Florida State in the early nineties the teams have played 16-game schedules. I love the idea but think the coaches will fight it. Lets see, do I want another game with North Carolina and Duke or do I want home games with Montana State and Utah State?

Coach K
I read where Coach K questioned whether or not Tyler Hansborough should have even been in the game when he got his nose broken and split open from a flagrant foul from Gerald Henderson. Are you kidding me? Here is a suggestion to Coach K-YOU COACH YOUR TEAM AND DECIDE ON YOUR TEAM'S SUBSTITUTION PATTERN AND LEAVE THE OTHER TEAM'S SUBSTITUTION TO THE OPPOSING COACH!

There was an article last year on CBS Sportsline that claimed Coach K has become what he used to despise. He has become Dean Smith. He must be the best coach in college basketball if he can decide who plays for Duke and its opponents. I am not sure if it was intentional or not and we may never know if the Duke player was intending to harm the UNC player. I wonder if Roy Williams will call the Duke staff before the ACC tournament to get their marching orders? I know the two campuses are close to each other so maybe Williams can drive over and pick up his team's game plan before practice.

Bubble Watch
The NCAA tournament selection committee will tick someone this Sunday night when the bubble will burst. Clemson is among one of those teams that will closely watch the selection show with its fingers crossed. I do not think Clemson is currently in but I can make a better case for the Tigers than some of the others on the bubble.

ESPN's bracketologist Joe Lunardi follows the brackets starting about November 1st. He has Purdue, Illinois, Old Dominion and Missouri State as the last four in the tournament. He has Kansas State, West Virginia, Massachusetts and Drexel as the first four out of the tournament. He then has Florida State, Michigan, Mississippi State and Mississippi and the next four out.

I am not sure who is in and who is out but Clemson should have a better resume than FSU and Mississippi State because the Tigers' record is equal or better and Clemson went 3-0 against those foes.

Lets look at the resume of a few of the bubble teams:

Clemson-Their RPI is about 33. They are 21-9 overall and 7-9 in the ACC. I believe a losing record in the league will really hurt their chances. However, Clemson is 6-5 on the road and 2-0 on neutral courts. The Tigers are 0-5 against top 25 teams, 6-3 against teams ranked from 26-50 and 3-0 against teams ranked from 51-100. The Tigers had the great start but are just 3-7 in their last ten. Their schedule is 53rd but they did play the bottom three teams in the ACC only once. I think it is very simple for Clemson-beat FSU and you are in.

Purdue-Their RPI is about 46. They are 20-10 overall and 9-7 in the Big Ten. The Big Ten is down this season but 9-7 is at least a winning record. The Boilermakers have won four of their last five and six of their last eight. Purdue is 1-5 against ranked teams with a win over then 19th-ranked Indiana. They are 2-6 vs Top 25 RPI teams and 4-6 against top 50 RPI teams. Their schedule is ranked 46. Purdue is just 2-8 in true road games. Their worst lost is against Indiana State.

Illinois-Their RPI is about 35. This is a team that has not hurt itself but has not helped it self. Illinois does not have any bad losses but they really don't any marquee wins. I guess you could put Indiana was a good win but this is their best win. The only wins they have against winning records in their league was Indiana. The Illini split with Iowa. They basically beat up on the bottom half of a poor Big Ten.

Old Dominion-Their RPI is about 39. Clemson defeated Old Dominion earlier this season. Old Dominion was 24-8 and 16-4 in their league but had some terrible losses. They lost to 200+ RPI James Madison. ODU also dropped a game to Marist. They did have two good wins (Georgetown and Virginia Commonwealth) but they did not win their league or tournament. Does the Colonial Athletic Association deserve two bids?

Florida State-Their RPI is 47. The Seminoles are 19-11 overall and 7-9 in the ACC. Their strength of schedule is 23rd. The Noles were 4-8 on the road and 1-0 on a neutral site. The Noles are 3-4 against top 25, 1-7 against teams 26-50 and 1-0 against teams ranked 51-100. FSU is 5-5 in its last ten. They did lose both games to Clemson and a third loss puts FSU out in my opinion.

Tomorrow I will look at some other bubble teams.

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