To put it frankly, Temple got fucked. Proper fucked. A No. 5? Really? So you're telling me a team that won its conference in the regular season, won its conference tournament — for the third straight year, mind you — and has won 10 straight games only deserves a No. 5 seed? Really? Who the fuck are these people making these brackets? Have they even watched Temple play once all season? This is fucking ludicrous.
The Owls got screwed. They deserved at minimum a No. 4 seed, probably a No. 3, given their résumé. Wisconsin got a No. 4. The same Wisconsin that finished fourth in the fucking shitty Big Ten. New Mexico got a 3, perhaps deserved, but the A-10 this season was every bit as good as the Mountain West … and oh yea, the Lobos didn't even win their god damn conference tournament. Baylor finished tied for third in its conference and got a fucking 3. And for the love of christ, mother fucking Villanova was given a 2 seed! Villanova! The same fucking team that has lost two in a row, not even winning a single game in the Big East tournament. The same team that's lost three of its last four games, that's lost five of its last seven. The same team that hasn't beaten a single good team since February fucking 8th.
As Arkansas Fred said to me last night, who's dick did Jay Wright suck? Honestly. If ever there's been proof that the committee and pollsters believe a loss in the Big East is more impressive than a win in the A-10, here you have it. I mean, jesus fucking christ, what more does Temple have to do? The Owls have been one of the hottest teams in college basketball, playing their best when it matters most. They've won 10 straight games, won their conference, demolished a Rhode Island team that was on the bubble and probably would have made the tournament had Temple not rolled them, and then avenged their last big loss by beating Richmond in the A-10 final — a team that is a 7th seed in the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, Nova did nothing but suck all month, losing every tough game they had, yet they are a 2! This is complete and utter bullshit.
Fact of the matter is, if these fucking morons actually watched college basketball — you know, not just the games they play on ESPN and CBS each weekend — they would know Temple is flat out better than Villanova right now. They have been for more than a month. And Villanova is by far playing its worst basketball of the season right now. In no way, shape or form should they be a 2. Truth is, Temple probably deserved a 3 seed, and Nova a 4. I could concede it going the other way, with Temple as a 4 and Nova a 3 solely based on the fact that pollsters and the committee are fucking morons who think that playing in the Big East automatically means you are better than everyone else. Which is fucking retarded. Yes, the Big East is by far the best conference, no question about it. But that doesn't mean every team in the Big East is the best god damn team. I'm beyond furious.
And adding to my outrage is the fact Temple got doubly fucked. Not only did they get disrespected with a 5, but then they get matched up with probably the best 12 in the entire tournament. Temple has to take on a Cornell team that obliterated the Ivy League, took Kansas to the brink in Lawrence and has enough talent that Jay Bilas thinks they can get to the Sweet 16. Honestly, what kind of horseshit is this? Luckily for Temple, if they can manage to outlast Cornell (which I think they will), they get to take on a mediocre at best Wisconsin team that somehow got a fucking 4. It's still fucking horseshit.
It all is. I mean, look at the rankings. Nova is still ranked in the top 10 (No. 9), and Temple is still 4 spots behind the Wildcats (at No. 13). It's remarkable the lack of respect this team is getting. And ridiculous how much love a struggling Villanova squad is getting. To be perfectly honest, I don't have much of a problem with the rest of the brackets and seeding, but those two really jump out. What infuriates me even further is when one of the committee overseers was on the selection show on CBS last night explaining why Duke got a No. 1 instead of West Virginia. He said when it came down to it, Duke winning its regular season conference title and then going out and winning its conference tournament factored in and ultimately swayed the committee to favor Duke over West Virginia. I have no problem with this. Duke deserved a 1 every bit as much as West Virginia. But what the fuck … didn't Temple win its regular season conference title and its conference tournament? I believe the answer is yes. Yet the Owls are "rewarded" with a fucking 5? Fuck you, you assholes. Watch some college basketball besides the Big East, ACC and Big 12. You people don't know shit. And I hope you all lose your jobs and are forced to beg for change.
At least the weekend itself had some incredible highlights.
The Flyers managed to edge the Blackhawks 3-2 in incredible fashion, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 by scoring two goals in the last 4 minutes, including the remarkable game-winner with 2.1 seconds left.
A buzzer-beater in hockey? Now that's tits. The funny thing about those final minutes: Adam EatShit was complaining about Scott Hartnell, saying the guy hasn't been doing shit for a while. Then all he does is score the game-tying goal with 2:04 remaining and assist on the game-winner, which culminated with a slam dunk by Pronger on a ridiculously awesome cross-ice pass by Claude Giroux. That shit was awesome. And Michael Leighton was incredible again, stopping 39 of Chicago's 41 shots.
Talk about a tough weekend for Chicago. Not only did they surrender a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 in regulation to the Flyers, but yesterday they blew a 3-0 lead against Washington with Alexander Ovechkin getting a game misconduct and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Caps. Ouch.
Later Saturday night, Da'Sean went and did it again:
I don't know how he got that shot off, I don't know how it went in, but what I do know is Da'Sean is all sorts of clutch … and he probably should have won Big East Player of the Year. Who would you trust more to take over with the game on the line, Da'Sean or Wes Johnson? Yeah, I'd pick Butler too. Every time.
Then, after Temple took home its third straight A-10 title behind 18 points from Juan Fernandez, 11 boards by LaVoy Allen, some clutch threes by Ramone Moore and big free throws from Ryan Brooks, Kentucky ended Mississippi State's tournament hopes in dramatic fashion:
Then the Flyers came out and played awful against the Rangers yesterday as that little maggot Sean Avery played an incredible game, goading Flyers into penalties and scoring twice. Pathetic display all around, as the defense sucked, the offense was non-existent, the team couldn't pass and Leighton let in a softy on Avery's second goal, which took any hopes of comeback off the table. And a note to Peter Laviolette: Don't ever dress Riley Cote again. When the game didn't turn into a fight fest like he must have expected, Cote became useless. In the third period, when vying for the comeback, he was glued to the bench because he can't do anything on offense, which meant the lines were all jumbled and mixed because the Flyers were playing without one forward. Dumb move. Also, I know you know what you're doing and I think you are an excellent coach, but if I were you, I'd reunite all the lines that put you on that hot streak and ride them out. That would be Gagne-Richards-Carcillo, Hartnell-Carter-Briere, Asham-Giroux-JVR and Lappy-Betts-Powe. That is all.
Oh, and the Sixers still suck. Go figure.
Temple certainly got screwed, and Nova got lucky as hell getting a 2, but Temple getting screwed has nothing to do with Villanova...they didn't do the seedings, so I don't understand why you are taking your anger out on Nova...yes Nova has sucked horribly lately and is limping into the tournament, but that doesn't discount what they did the first two months of the season, the seedings aren't determined solely by what you did in February. I understand what your saying here I just don't understand why you're making Villanova your whipping boy because the committee is full of morons.
ReplyDeleteThey aren't related, but equally BS. Definitely think Temple got hosed. You can look at purdue for the reason a 2 line was even open in the first place for Nova.
ReplyDeleteExcited about the tournament but my first run through was a mess...not sure how this will play out.
I agree they aren't completely related, but those were the two biggest injustices of the tournament, in my opinion. Temple definitely deserved better and Nova should have gotten a worse seed.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, with Nova's bracket, it sets up nicely for them to make a run. If they can get by Richmond and Baylor, which isn't inconceivable, they can reclaim their early-season mojo.
It's completely absurd though that a team that's 8th in RPI is a 5. Honestly. I can't get over it. And they have a brutal run: Cornell, Wisconsin, then Kentucky. If they got a 3 in Nova's bracket, I could almost validate an elite 8. But I don't see them getting by Kentucky.
I wanted to scream "fuck DeSean Butler" after he made that shot, but I couldn't do it. My Hoyas had a Big East championship gift-wrapped for them, only to lose in the damn title game. Oh well, we still got a three (which further illustrates the Big East bias of the committee).
ReplyDeleteI was watching the Selection Show on Sunday, and as soon as I saw Temple get a five-seed, I knew, somewhere, The Reverend Paul Revere was losing his shit. The worst thing about this is if Cornell somehow beats Temple, it will (bogus) justify the committee's decision to make them a five.