March Madness: Southwest Regional

Headlining the South West region are top seed Kansas and #2 Notre Dame. The Jayhawks have  much to prove after falling in 2nd round a year ago to Northern Iowa.  The 16th and final spot in the South West region will be decided tonight as Southern California takes on Virginia Commonwealth in Dayton, Ohio in a “First Four” play in game*. The South West Final Four representative will be decided at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Early round games take place in Chicago, Tulsa and Denver.

1st round:

#1 Kansas over #16 Boston University– KU rolls into its 22nd straight tournament coming off their seventh straight Big 12 crown.

#2 Notre Dame over #15 Akron– Irish proved they were for real with the win at Pittsburgh.

#3 Purdue over #14 St.Peters– Solid season for the Boilermakers led by Big 10 player of the year JaJuan Johnson.

#4 Louisville over #13 Moorehead State– Louisville has its hands full with Kenneth Faried who led the nation in rebounding and field goal percentage.

#12 Richmond over # 5 Vanderbilt– UPSET ALERT The Spiders Princeton offense give the Commodores fits.

#6 Georgetown over *Play In– Hoyas get point guard Chris Wright back from wrist injury who makes them click.

#10 Florida State over #7 Texas A&M– Seminoles bolstered by Chris Singleton’s return from injury.

#9 Illinois over #8 UNLV– Lon Kruger falls to his former team. The defensive minded Runnin Rebels just don’t have enough offense.

2nd round:

#1 Kansas over #9 Illinois– Bill Self defeats his former team. The Illini seemed headed for big things after wins over UNC and Gonzaga before the New Year, but went 11-12 rest of way.

#2 Notre Dame over #10 Florida State– Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough leads the senior laden Irish.

#6 Georgetown over #3 Purdue– UPSET ALERT Might have been different had the Boilermakers had injured star Robbie  Hummel.

#4 Louisville over #12 Richmond– The one-two punch of Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper get the Spiders into second round, but Cardinals have way too much depth.

SW Semfinals:

#4 Louisville over #1 Kansas– UPSET ALERT Louisville can beat anyone on a given night, with signature wins over Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Connecticut. Streaky three point shooting, depth and defense get it done for Rick Pitino.

#2 Notre Dame over #6 Georgetown- The Irish can score with anyone, ask Villanova about the 25 three pointers the Irish rained down on them. Notre Dame is deep, can play defense and is clutch in close games.

SW Final:

#2 Notre Dame over #4 Louisville– The Irish return to the Final Four for only the second time, the first since the Digger Phelps era.

March Madness: First Four

Did you catch the “First Four” last night?  One great game and one blowout.  In the opener in Dayton, Ohio, North Carolina-Asheville defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in overtime. Their reward? An opening round date with #1 seed Pittsburgh! In the second game, as expected, Clemson blew out Alabama-Birmingham. The Tigers advance to take on West Virginia in the main draw. Play continues tonight as Texas San Antonio plays Alabama State with the winner getting top overall seed Ohio State next. In the nighcap, an interesting battle with Southern California up against Virgina Commonwealth. The Trojans have been the definition of inconsistent. USC’s signature wins include Texas, Tennessee, UCLA, Arizona and Washington.  Southern Cal Coach Kevin O’Neill returns after a brief suspension to lead the 19-14 Trojans. VCU shocked favorite George Mason in their conference tournament to earn an invite, the first time three teams from the Colonial Athletic Conference received bids. Georgetown awaits the winner of that matchup.

If you watched last night, what were your thoughts of the TruTV coverage. It was a blend of CBS and TNT with the network blending the usual suspects of College Basketball like Jim Nantz with NBA holdovers including Charles Barkley. I thought the coverage was good overall but the mix of hosts seemed a bit akward.

Almost all bracket pools do not include any of these games, so tonight (and tomorrow morning) is your last chance to fill out your brackets. With that in mind, here are some trends to keep in mind.

-A #1 seed has never lost its 1st game since the tourney expanded to 64.

-Its been 10 years since a #2 seed lost its first game.

-12 seeds are most likely to post 1st round upset (23 in past 26 tourneys)

-One of top 4 seeds will fall before Sweet 16 (90 of last 104 chances)

-Don’t pick all #1’s for the Final Four (only happened once ever)

Loui Eriksson Out, But For How Long?

Dallas winger Loui Eriksson was knocked out of Tuesday nights game against the San Jose Sharks with an “upper body injury.”

Analysis: Loui Eriksson was hit in the head area by Shark defenseman Douglas Murray and it is now a question of if Loui Eriksson has a concussion or not. As of now the Stars are listing him as day to day, however, we all know how unpredictable concussion injuries can be if that is the case. The 25 year old Eriksson up until this point was having the best season of his career with 63 points in 69 games with a plus 14. Under no circumstances can you drop Eriksson until it is apparent he’ll be out for at least three weeks as the regular season ends in just over three weeks. Closely monitor the situation as to not lose any ground as you head into the last stretch of the fantasy hockey season.

Projection: If all goes well Loui Eriksson will be back within a week, however, if the situation develops and leaves you searching for a new winger you may want to consider the following options. Teammate Jamie Benn is still available in most leagues and he is absolutely lighting up the score sheet with goals in seven of his last eight games. Also, Vinny Prospal is finally starting to pick it up for the Rangers and he is available in the majority of fantasy leagues.

All Aboard the Hansbrough Bus

Tyler Hansbrough has put up a solid few games recently and is definitely worthy of fantasy discussion.

Analysis: Tyler Hansbrough’s regular season statistics have been pretty underwhelming, that is, until recently. Hanbrough is averaging a mediocre, 10 points, 5 boards, and a 1/2 steal a game this season. Plus he’s only shooting 46% from the floor, which is quite poor for a power forward. However in his last week of games Hansbrough is averaging 24 points 8 boards, and 2 steals a game. While shooting an astonishing 59% from the field. The points and FG% are fantastic, but it is the steals that can really help you. 2 steals from the power forward position is a really nice feature of owning Hansbrough. In his last 5 games Hansbrough has not dipped below 20 points, and tonight he went off for 30.In the previous month of February Hansbrough only hit the 20 point plateau once.

Projection: Hansbrough is on fire right now and in the vast majority of leagues you are not going to find a better waiver wire option than him. The question remains as to whether or not he can keep this streak alive. One worrisome note is that 4 out of his recent games have come against sub-par defensive teams (New York twice, Toronto, and Minnesota) and his next two games are against Boston and Chicago. If he can continue to put up great numbers against 2 of the best teams in the East then we’ll know his streak is not a fluke.

What Does Neftali Feliz’s Change of Heart Mean for You?

After stating just a week ago that his heart was focused on closing, the Rangers fireballer pulled a complete 180 yesterday, telling reporters that his goal was to make the starting rotation out of camp.

Analysis: Talk of Feliz eventually joining Texas’s rotation began as soon as the Dominican righty hit the scene in 2009. After saving 40 games en route to a World Series berth last year, however, those rumors cooled off a bit but not for long. As soon as pitchers and catchers reported last month, speculation about the AL Rookie of the Year slotting in behind the likes of C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis heated up once again. Althouh Feliz has been absolutely dominant as a closer, the thought of him starting every fifth day is intriguing to the Rangers brass. An arm of his quality would soften the blow of losing Cliff Lee, and visions of a future ace are certainly no pipe dream. The team has not committed to this move, but they may choose to accommodate the 22-year-old’s desire to return to the role he occupied in 53 minor league starts from ’06-’09. Ron Washington’s club has more to consider, though, as Feliz is by far their best in-house closer option.

Projection: Striking out nine in as many innings so far this spring, Feliz has picked up right where he left off in October. Mixing in a newly refined cutter last week, it appears as if the Rangers phenom is attempting to widen his pitch array. If the Rangers feel comfortable with one of their other bullpen options taking over the ninth, or if GM Jon Daniels can get his hands on a more experienced stopper, then Feliz in the rotation should and will happen. While he’s bound to experience minor growing pains as a starter, the youngster’s stuff and guile alone may be enough to get him through even the rockiest of patches. Backed by a fundamentally sound defense and a prodigious lineup, Feliz would be in position to win 15 games with a 8.5-9.5 SO/9 rate. Although Fantasy owners may miss his save numbers, they’ll practically drool over his future numbers as a member of the Rangers staff.