2012 NCAA Tournament: 3rd Round Predictions

The road to the Final Four down in New Orleans continues as what was at times a wild second round has concluded. Who will survive and advance to the regional semifinals? Here are my picks.

How about another? 15th seeded Lehigh upsets 2nd seeded Duke

Prior to today, four fifteen seeds had been victorious over a second seed. So of course two would win today. We already know that Norfolk State defeated Missouri earlier today and now we have the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh, who led by their star C.J. McCollum, who introduced himself to America with a 30 point performance, they defeated the Duke Blue Devils by a 75-70 final. This is only Duke's second opening game loss in 16 years. We knew that if the Blue Devils struggled from three they would struggle to win and they went 6 for 26 from deep today. And now Brett Reid and the boys from Lehigh are a game away from the regional semifinals.

15 over 2: Norfolk State takes down Missouri, 86-84

It was David versus Goliath and guess who blinked. The Spartans of Norfolk State, the champions of the MEAC, came into today's game at CenturyLink Arena in Omaha never having beaten a ranked club. The Tigers from Missouri, the champions of the Big XII, came in having their best season in school history with many liking them to make their first run to the Final Four. And guess what happened, the Spartans came out on top. Led behind a herculean performance from big man Kyle O'Quinn, who had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and uncharactistically good shooting, 54.2 percent from the field, 62.5 percent in the second half and 52.6 percent from three point land, they toppled the Tigers by an 86-84 final after one tense final minute where Missouri kept getting a chance to tie and/or win. The Tigers got their scoring from their guards as Marcus Denmon (20 points), Marcus Dixon (22 points) and Phil Pressey (20 points, eight assists) played well according to the statsheet but it was not enough as Pressey's desperation three came up iron unkind as time ran out.

2012 NCAA Tournament 3rd Round TV Schedule

Who's going to advance to the regionals and the Sweet Sixteen? We shall find out this weekend. Here's the schedule for the 3rd round games this Saturday and Sunday on the CBS/Turner consortium.

Dick Vitale's interview fail with WGN Morning News

So it's the NCAA tournament, folks, and thus, the venerable Dick Vitale is making the rounds. He went on Morning Joe on MSNBC a few days ago and he also went on the WGN Morning News. But unfortunately, he got snakebit by a malfunctioning earpiece and thus he cannot hear a word from sports anchor Pat Tomasulo, and then cue the ensuing hilarity. Let's go to the earpiece.

Was VCU thinking Sweet Sixteen before yesterday's game against Wichita State?

Virginia Commonwealth head coach Shaka Smart is widely considered to be one of the top young coaches in the country; leading a team from the First Four to the Final Four will give that impression. And what he did, to get the Rams ready for another run in the NCAA's was have them sign a piece of poster-board depicting them winning twice to get to the Sweet Sixteen and saying OUR GOAL: SWEET 16!. And after yesterday's big victory over the Wichita State Shockers, looking like Smart was onto something. The evidence is below. 

2012 NCAA Tournament Round 2 Friday Predictions

We are through with half of second round action in the 2012 NCAA Tournament and while there were some good games, it also seemed like somewhat of a let down. Let's all hope that Friday's action will be a little better. Here are my game predictions for today's action.

2012 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round Thursday Predictions

And today, the true madness begins. Sixteen games today all day as the true road to New Orleans begins right here. Here are my picks for today's games.

Watch Dick Vitale go on Morning Joe this morning on MSNBC

Normally Morning Joe, MSNBC's morning program and I show I frequently watch, talks for the majority of its three hours about the political theatre. But late in the show this morning, Dick Vitale joined the program discussing March Madness with Bergen County legend, Willie Geist as well as MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle, who both gave their own Final Four predictions as did Dickie V. Still not sure why this happened but who cares. Let's go to the videotape.

Did the Warriors get fleeced in the Monta Ellis trade?

We've got the first major trade of the NBA trade deadline period, which is Thursday. The Golden State Warriors sent star guard Monta Ellis along with young forward Epke Udoh and the venerable Kwame Brown to Milwaukee with the Bucks giving up Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. I can't help but feel that Milwaukee clearly got the better of this trade.

Who is in President Obama's Final Four?

Well I can't remember the last President that would openly make a bracket for the NCAA Tournament like Barack Obama so I love it when he releases his bracket. And this year, you can take on the President's bracket and you can get your name listed on his website if you beat his. So who does President Obama have in his Final Four?

2012 NCAA Tournament First Four: Iona chokes 25 point lead, loses to BYU

BYU coach Dave Rose thought that his team was dead to rites, being down by as much as 25 points to the Iona Gaels, who put up an absurd 55 points in the first half. But Noah Hartsock came alive from deep in the second half and Brandon Davies capped off an impressive double-double performance as the Cougars allowed the Gaels to only 17 in the second half as they went stone cold, and it will be BYU that takes on Marquette on Thursday in Louisville at 2:45 on the Tiffany Network after coming out on top of Iona, 78-72. They outscored the Gaels by 21 in the second half.

Here's the game recap.

Watch Barack Obama & David Cameron's interview at the First Four

So of course the NCAA tournament game the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister would be the First Four game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. Yes, that actually was Barack Obama and David Cameron in Dayton in attendance to see the Hilltoppers' victory over the Delta Devils. They were jointly interviewed by Clark Kellogg, who was analyzing the game with Jim Nantz and Steve Kerr, at halftime. Continue reading to watch the full interview from UD Arena.

2012 NCAA Tournament First Four: Western Kentucky Defeats Miss. Valley State

Hilltoppers coach Ray Harper and his Western Kentucky club pretty much had a microcosm of their season in their First Four matchup against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, they trailed for much of the game but when it mattered most, they came together for the victory. WKU came out on top in front of the President of the United States as well as the British Prime Minister with  59-58 victory to enjoy the right to get crushed on Thursday by Kentucky in Louisville. That game will be at 6:50 on TBS.

Click here for highlights from the first First Four game of the evening.

Where will the East Regional in the 2013 NCAA Tournament be held?

We'll take a short detour from 2012 NCAA Tournament coverage to talk a little about next year's tournament as there is still one major question about who will host a regional. The First Four will again be in Dayton with second and third round games being played in Auburn Hills, Lexington, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Dayton, Austin, Kansas City and Philadelphia with the West regional in Los Angeles, the Midwest regional in Indianapolis and the South regional in Arlington. But where will the East regional be? There are four major contenders.

UPDATE: The NCAA has thrown a little bit of a curveball and has announced that the East Regional would be hosted by Georgetown at the Verizon Center. As somebody who goes to school in D.C., I'm loving this.

Bears swing brilliant trade for Brandon Marshall

Everybody's looking for major trades from the NBA but a trade in the NFL, a brilliant one at that, went down today as Jay Glazer reported that the Miami Dolphins have traded wideout Brandon Marshall to the Chicago Bears for a pair of third-round picks. Here's my analysis.

2012 NCAA Tournament: First Four Predictions

That logo is correct, the road to New Orleans begins for eight teams here in Dayton for the First Four, the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Who will survive and advance to the secound round games being played on Thursday and Friday? Here are my picks.

2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament Predictions

Ahh, the CIT. Not sure why we have it in the first place but hey, college basketball is great. I actually was a CIT once (counselor-in-training) and my school is in this tournament so it means something to me. Here are my predictions.

2012 CBI Predictions

There's nothing better than the College Basketball Invitational, unless of course you are in the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT. But in this day and age where we get seemingly everyone a chance to win something, we have the CBI. Here are my predictions for the 2012 edition.

2012 Women's NCAA Tournament Predictions

Hey, it would not be March without the Women's NCAA Tournament. I've heard some folks say that the Women's Tourney is even better than the male version (yeah, that's not true). Can Baylor go all they way and thus go undefeated for the season? Or will somebody pull off the upset? Here are my predictions.

2012 NIT Predictions

I remember when the National Invitation Tournament was more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament. That's actually a lie but regardless, the NIT is in its 75th edition and thus here are my predictions.

2012 NCAA Tournament: Potential 2nd Round Upsets

Moments like when a three from Demonte Harper lifted the thirteenth seeded Morehead State Eagles over the fourth seeded Louisville Cardinals in last year's tournament are what we live for in March Madness (and I correctly picked that game, by the way). Where could we potentially see upsets in the second round of this year's tournament? Here are some speculative thoughts.

2012 NCAA Tournament: 2nd Round TV Schedule

The 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament is always chock full of games from high noon until into the wee hours of the night, maybe even into the next day. Here is the television schedule for the 2nd round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, of course televised on four networks, CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

2012 NCAA Tournament Rounds 2-3 Announcing Assignments

We found out the announcers for the 2012 NCAA Tournament a few weeks ago, now we know where those crews are headed for the second and third rounds officially, thanks to Turner.

2012 NCAA Tournament: Who got snubbed?

As per every year on Selection Sunday, there are teams that get snubbed by the selection committee and thus are relegated to the NIT. Who are teams that I thought got screwed today? Let's take a look.

2012 NCAA Tournament Seedings

The road to the Superdome in New Orleans for the Final Four begins tonight as the seedings and the bracket for the 2012 NCAA Tournament are announced. All the bracketology comes down to the moment right here as the 68 clubs with the dreams of a championship commence here. Here are the seedings for the Big Dance for 2012.

St. Bonaventure wins the Atlantic 10 tournament, going to 2012 NCAA Tournament

The last bid snatcher to March Madness will be Mack Schmidt;'s Bonnies of St. Bonaventure University as today at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, they won the 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament by defeating the Xavier Musketeers 67-56. The Bonnies were led, as always, be A-10 player of the year Andrew Nicholson as the big Canadian had another masterful performance with 26 points, 14 boards and eight blocks. He has been the biggest reason why the Bonnies have gone on this run to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2000.

As Temple, Saint Louis and Xavier all seemed to be in good shape for the tournament, the Bonnies were able to steal someone else's bid and we shall see tonight at 6 p.m. who will be in and who will be out, as well as who the Bonnies will be playing in the Big Dance.

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery have the recap from AC for CBS Sports.

Watch Bob Knight's reaction to Pat Knight making the NCAA Tournament with Lamar

There's nothing that makes a parent prouder than watching their child or children succeed. So you know that Bobby Knight was happy yesterday when he saw that his son, Pat Knight, had coached Lamar to an NCAA Tournament berth. Let's see his reaction.

Watch Gerald Green's epic windmill alley-oop against Houston

When was the last time you saw Gerald Green on the hardwood? Regardless, he's been moonlighting with the New Jersey Nets of late and while they were not victorious on Saturday evening against the Rockets, Green stole the sow with this utterly ridiculous windmill alley-oop from MarShon Brooks. Let's go to the videotape.