Chalmersfan’s comment earlier got me thinking about KU’s seed. I’ve heard no definitive answer regarding whether or not KU can end up in Dallas (or Dayton), because I get wrapped up in the legal mumbo jumbo of the NCAA’s guidelines.

But it occurred to me that there are a number of teams in competition with KU for seeds, and I thought I’d look into them. Feel free to add/subtract or modify in the comments. Or if you’re clever, guess my password (I don’t even know it anymore) and change my words.

Without further ado (the more stars, the better the chance, see):

UCLA** - probably better seed than KU

Pitt*** - could drop to below KU if they lose tonight to WVU badly today.

UF**** - after losing 3/4, teetering on the edge. They played well against UK last week though.

Tenn* - Could be a 2-4 seed, I think, depending on the outcome of the SEC tournament.

Boston College** - Lunardi has them as a 5. They don’t deserve their ranking.

GW*** - they could plummet to a 5 or 6 after flaming out today v. Temple.

WVU**** - my gut tells me they’ll get a 4 is a foolish sack of tissue, but they’ve been slumping, a lot.

Iowa*** - Lunardi has them as a 4. Don’t understand this.

Illinois* - Not very likely at all, but Illinois is not playing great basketball right now.

Gonzaga* - pretty unlikely, but they’re not improving, and their recent play shows it.

Washington**** - Washington’s climbing, they’ll need to get upset by somebody in the Pac10 Tourney Thanks to PB reader Josh for letting us know that Washington got Carmelo-ized byt Malik Hairston and the Ducks.

UNC* - Very unlikely at this point. UNC is playing top 10 ball over the last 5 games.

Memphis* - If they get blown out early in the CUSA tournament, they could fall, but KU would need to win B12 tournament.

The bottom line is that KU has and outside chance for a 3 seed. I think they’re a 5 if they win one game, a 4 if they win 2, and a 3 if they win 3. Best case - Memphis loses early and big, KU wins B12 tournament, and KU slides into a 3 seed in Dallas.

Most likely scenario: KU wins on Friday and Saturday and gets the lowest 4, and plays in Salt Lake City and uses run-on sentences in their post game interview and doesn’t care.

Harvey Carson, with a score of 97 points is the victor in the 1st Annual Phog Blog Tourney Pick’em Challenge. He was followed by Rich Gilmore and Clark Eddy. Congratulations Fellas. Harvey wins a “Mizzou Athletics - Celebrating Mediocrity since 1890″ T-shirt. Just email me Harvey and I’ll work out the details.

Here are the final standings. Thanks for playing!

For our Illini brethren, and especially for Illini Wonk:

Casey At The Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day,
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.
The rest clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast.
They thought, “if only Casey could but get a whack at that.
We’d put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.”

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake;
and the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake.
(more…)

As the dust settles, I’m glad Roy won. I don’t think I’m one of these Kansas fans that’s embittered and hurt that he left KU and wishes pain and suffering on him and his from this day forward. Truth be told, I don’t think there are a lot of those fans floating around. I’m a KU fan who didn’t like the fact that Roy left under the circumstances that he did, going to a UNC which dropped Matt Doherty as if on purpose just before the 2003 Final Four to put more pressure on Roy. I was disappointed that he took Matt’s job and I’m convinced that Matt could have kept his job had not Roy made some sort of hint to the effect that he was unhappy at Kansas under Al Bohl and that he was regretting his decision. He’s at a rival school now and that’s about all I feel. Except I was glad that he got his title out of the way and, indeed, as I said last night, I hope it was worth it.

In terms of basketball, it was an excellent game. Ken Pomeroy provides some interesting facts:

The only time a team shot fewer free throws in the championship game was Dartmouth in 1944!! It was also the most threes shot in finals history. But considering there have only been 19 championship games played with a three-point line, that doesn’t put the feat in proper perspective. It was the fourth-most threes shot in any tournament contest - a total of 1,202 games. Luther Head shot 16 threes on his own, equaling the UNC team attempts and breaking the individual finals record by three.

Read Ken’s summation. It’s quite good.

My question is this: Will Weber and the Illini recover? His team was made up of 90%+ of Bill Self’s recruits (in terms of scoring..ok if you’re going to be picky, I think Lon Kruger recruited one of them) and while they had a great year, they didn’t win. They lost nearly all the good recruits in Illinois to other teams. They will probably pick up DeAndre Thomas now that it appears that the scholarship I thought was going to him is going to Chris Moody, and I guarantee he’ll be a strong player for them. But otherwise, the shopping list doesn’t appear to be as robust as what is already in the cupboard.

I told you the night we lost to Syracuse two years ago that I never had more respect for you. A few days later, you left KU. Now you have a title, but unfortunately not my respect. I don’t wish you any harm and I’m glad to see you get your title, and I hope it was worth it.

Reset this game

As I write UNC is up 2.

Moody gets Galindo’s scholarship. Perhaps I am wrong about DeAndre Thomas.

Will Roy lose and become the greatest choker ever, or will he win and become a hall of fame coach?

20 minutes and we’ll know.

One game left. The game that most everyone has wanted to see since December. Will Roy emerge victorious for the first time with a team he took from his buddy Matt Dougherty or will Bruce Weber win with a team composed of 90% of Bill Self’s recruits?

It’s an interesting, if pretty disgusting storyline for Kansas fans: our former coach against our Coach’s former players.

Who who who who to root for? I honestly don’t know if I’ll watch.

But for those who are interested in such things, the tourney results are up. If you look close enough, you might find something…

I would have never picked UNC-ILL in the title game - it was just too perfect. It will be a heck of a game. I guess if I have to choose, I will root for…a blackout?

The updated tournament standings are up, and Illinois and UNC pickers are rising. Gotta love Sean May:

“Coach Robinson has been wearing this awful T-shirt from Kansas when they went to the Final Four,” May said, “and I told him before the game if we win, I get to rip it up. That was my main motivation.”

The McDonalds All-American game is this week, and I’ll be posting highlights from KU-bound players here on the Phog Blog. The game starts at 7 on Wednesday and the Dunk Contest/3 point contest, both of which feature Micah Downs and the former of which features Julian Wright as well.

I’m impressed. The Big 10, what I thought all year to be just above a mid-major conference, has impressed me greatly. I was never much of a Duke believer, but I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me that Wisconsin and Michigan State would be in the elite 8. The tourney results are up, and those who picked Illinois are rising. Oh, and one guy who picked Louisville - he could be the winner!

Good games today, but probably no live-blogging.

The Tourney Pick’em Standings have been updated, and for the first time, some pickers can no longer earn points. Todd is still at the top, with Phog Blog contributor Ryan Riggin close behind. My Kansas-OSU final will not happen. And as much as Salim Stoudamire ran his mouth yesterday, I suppose that it is everyone else who is eating humble pie. I can admire his shooting in the second half, but I don’t have to like him. Here’s what he said yesterday, hat tip to Yoni:

“I’m a humble person. Everyone on the team is humble, too. We just want our game to show for itself…Some reporter just told me the white guy [6-foot-6 Daniel Bobik] is going to guard me. I don’t know his name. I don’t think anybody can guard me. I’m the only one who can stop me.”