Gonzaga celebrated his highest ranking of the season (No. 4) last Monday by beating Loyola-Marymount 68-67 in the WCC championship game that night. It was the school’s 18th straight win this year and their 40th straight home win. Gonzaga’s top 15 peer schools didn’t fare as well last week, with only No. 3 Duke, No. 5 Memphis and No. 13 UCLA coming out of the week unscathed.

It is a very short card on Monday and today I do not have a free selection. However, I’m following up my 20* NBA Western Conf GOY winner at the Kings last night with a 15* NBA winner tonight (67% in NBA 15* games since Feb 3).

Duke won its seventh ACC tournament in eight years by beating Boston College 78-76 on Sunday and its 16th all-time (the most of any ACC school). Memphis won its first C-USA championship by avenging a March 2 loss at UAB, in a 57-46 win over the Blazers on Saturday afternoon. UCLA followed up its first regular-season Pac-10 title since 1997 by winning its first Pac-10 tournament since 1987 on Saturday, beating Cal 71-52.

In descending order, they lost U Conn, Villanova, George Washington, Ohio State, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Boston College, Washington, Tennessee and Pittsburgh. Duke (ACC) and UCLA (PAC-10) were also the only two schools from all six power conferences to win their respective conference tournaments. U Conn and Villanova (Big East co-champions) lost early, Ohio State lost in the Big-10 title game to Iowa, Texas lost in the Big-12 title game to Kansas, and LSU lost to Florida in the SEC semifinals.

There were really no surprises Sunday, when the selection committee announced the four No. 1 seeds. Duke (the No. 1 overall) earned its 10th No. 1 seed since the seeding process began in 1979 and U Conn was the second No. 1 seed, fourth all-time. Villanova and Memphis were the third and fourth No. 1 seeds, both schools earning a first seed for the first time in school history. It should be noted when filling in the brackets that the four No. 1 seeds have never reached the same Final 4 in the 27 years since seeding began. In fact, in the past three years, only four of the 12 No. 1 seeds have made it that far!

As always, there was much controversy, starting with Tennessee getting the No. 2 seed. Gonzaga (No. 3 seed in the Oakland region) was a huge underdog. Considering Memphis is the fourth of the four No. 1 seeds and Gonzaga is in the Tigers’ regional, the committee ranked the Bulldogs 12th. This for a team that finished 30-3, enters the tournament with the nation’s best 18-game winning streak and will be ranked no worse than fifth when the final AP poll of the regular season is released later today.

While few would dispute that George Washington scored only a No. 8 ranking, few can deny that the Colonials received a huge ‘hit’ this week! GW (ranked No. 6 by the AP) was one of three Division I schools this year to complete their conference schedule undefeated (Bucknell and Gonzaga were the others), also entering the A-10 tournament on a streak of 18 game wins and as the nation’s only one-loss team.

However, the Colonials were ‘whipped’ by Temple in the quarterfinals (68-53) and using the same ‘math’ as ​​Gonzaga (they are an eighth seed in the Memphis region), it is reasonable to conclude that the committee had the Colonials ranked as the 32nd best team!

When the dust settled and the 34 general offers were announced, the arguments began. Bradley and Air Force (both 13th seeds) plus Utah State and Texas A&M (both 12th seeds) were clearly the “last teams to go in.” Lost in alphabetical order, Cincinnati (19-12), Creighton (19-9), Florida State (19-9), Hofstra (24-6), Maryland (19-12), Michigan (18-10) and State Missouri (20-8). The Air Force and Utah State appeared to be the most questionable overall picks, while most felt Cincinnati was given a “raw deal.”

Even though Cincinnati didn’t make it, the Big East put up a record eight schools in this year’s tournament, including two No. 1 seeds. Syracuse, which entered the Big East Tourney in the proverbial “bubble,” actually got ranked number 5, after winning the Big East Tourney for the second year in a row. Syracuse is the only overall pick in the tournament to have posted a losing conference record this season, going 7-9 in the Big East.

Behind the Big East, the Big-10 and SEC each received six offers and MVC received as many offers (four) as the ACC, Big-12 and Pac-10. It was really interesting to hear all the complaints from commentators and analysts as they “cry the blues” over the disrespect shown to “power” conferences.

This from the same people who over the years typically complained that small and medium sized conferences were being underappreciated! Guys, make up your mind!

Hofstra’s 24 wins were the most of any school not receiving an invitation, while 16-15 Hampton (MEAC tournament winner), came the closest of any school to entering the tournament with a losing record. Since the tournament expanded to a 64-team field in 1985, there have been 14 schools that qualified for the Big Dance with losing records by winning their conference tournaments, including at least one school, in each of the previous four years. .

As for Hofstra, the Pride’s 24 wins may be the most of any team to sit out this year, but they’re still short of the all-time record. Howard went 26-5 in 1987 and Southern Illinois went 26-7 in 1990 with neither school receiving an invitation in those years. Seven schools have won 25 games and not earned an NCAA bid, the most recent being Utah State (25-3) in 2004!

There will be plenty more NCAA tournament coverage over the next three days and let’s not forget the 40-team NIT field, which starts play tomorrow. The four No. 1 seeds for that tournament are Cincinnati, Maryland, Michigan and Louisville.

In a change only this year, schools that won their regular-season titles but lost in their respective conference tournaments had guaranteed bids to this year’s NIT. Delaware State (MEAC), Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC), Ga Southern (Southern), Manhattan (MAAC), Northern Arizona (Big Sky), and Western Ky (SBC) were the six schools that benefited this year.

In the NBA over the weekend, the Pistons lost in Washington on Saturday night (now 3-9 ATS in their last 12 on the road!) and beat the Bobcats at home on Sunday. Detroit still has the best record in the league (50-12) and is comfortably ahead of the Heat, who at 41-21 have the second-best record in the East. Miami had its 10-game winning streak snapped Friday night by Golden State (none of the Heat’s victories had come against a team above .500), but it beat the Cavs on Sunday.

The Cavs also lost in Orlando on Friday night in embarrassing fashion, 102-73! The Cavs own a 36-28 mark, but they can only get the fourth seed in the East, as the winner of the Atlantic Division (probably the Nets) will get the third seed. Behind the Pistons and Heat in the East, the 3rd-8th seeds are within five games of each other. Chicago is in ninth place, 2 1/2 games behind, and Boston is in 10th, 3 1/2 games out of the last place in the conference playoffs.

In the West, San Antonio and Dallas finished 1-1 each, leaving the two Southwest Division teams still tied at 49-14. The Suns (43-19) got Nash back, but after beating the T-wolves on Saturday, they lost in Portland on Sunday night (111-101), to a Blazers team that won for the third time in 17 games.

The Kings beat the Mavs in Arco on Sunday night (85-80), for their 12th straight home win (9-0 SU and ATS w/ Artest). Sacramento is above .500 (32-31) for the first time this year and slipped a half-game ahead of the Hornets (losers of six in a row) for the final playoff spot in the West.

The Monday night NBA schedule features five games.

closing note

The announcement that Edgerrin James has signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals makes a reasonable person wonder. Did his agent, Drew Rosenhaus (who handled the TO situation so wonderfully), really explain to James exactly where he was going?

We now know he’ll earn the starting RB job, as the Cardinals were last in the NFL in 2005, averaging 71.1 YPG and the team’s leading rusher (Marcel Shipp), had just 451 yards. By the way, the Cards have had just three 1,000-yard rushers since 1990 and have averaged finishing 24th in the league in rushing yards over the past 16 years.

However, did Drew tell you that the Cardinals have missed the playoffs for the last seven years and that the team’s playoff appearance in 1998 was the club’s only since 1975 (excluding the strike year of 1982 when 16 teams made it to the playoffs?) to the postseason)? Does he also know that the Cardinals are one of four pre-1995 NFL franchises, joining the Browns, Lions and Saints, who never made it to the Super Bowl? Just wondering?

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