More Sweet Sixteen, Big XII

The conference went 1-2 on Friday. Oklahoma defeated Syracuse to avenge a Tournament loss in 2003, while Kansas had its 9-game NCAA winning streak stopped by Michigan State.
With deference to Kansas, this little blog is about OU. Man, they looked good. The Syracuse zone was totally ineffective against the Sooners' outside game, Tony Crocker in particular, and didn't fare much better against Blake Griffin on the inside. Griffin had yet another 30 point outing and Crocker's 28 kept Oklahoma in control throughout the night. As a matter of fact, the only thing that even slowed Griffin down was the underside of the backboard on a ferocious dunk late in the contest.
For as much hype as Syracuse had been getting late in the season, they looked completely outmatched in this one.
And so, two Big XII teams remain. We'll see if the conference can get one or maybe two entries in the Final Four.

On the Air

This weekend, it is possible that all three of us will be back in studio for the show. And hopefully, the tower won’t be down again. Although, word is that there’s a chance of snow. (On March 28? In southern Oklahoma?!)
Anyway, here are some of the topics we’ll likely talk about:
► Southeastern softball, specifically the Lone Star Crossover Tournament here in the Durant area
► Southeastern baseball
► The NCAA Tournament, especially the Missouri win over Memphis and Oklahoma’s takedown of Syracuse
► Billy Gillespie
► The Mavs playoff chances and likelihood of playing the Lakers in the first round
► And, since the state of Tennessee, and city of Knoxville in particular, has not been beaten down by J.B. in at least three weeks, expect that to happen on this show.

Sweet Sixteen, Big XII

Last year's NCAA Championship game was a thrill to watch. And it was also a dream for high school coaches to point out exactly how important free throws really are.
The Memphis Tigers missed four out of five free throws in the final 2 minutes that would have put the game away and Kansas, down NINE POINTS with 2:12 left, came back to send the game into overtime and win the title 75-68.
There was no need for an incredible comeback by a Big XII team in the final minutes on Thursday night. In fact, at one point in the second half, the Missouri Tigers led Memphis by 24. Mizzou flat out went off on suddenly defense-less Memphis and won 102-91. Missouri looked unstoppable on offense, but that seemed to be partly due to an inability by the Memphis defense to stay with the ball. For as athletic a team as Memphis has been portrayed to be (and truthfully is), the boys in gold put on an athletic display that left Memphis far behind.
Leo Lyons looks better with each game as the Big XII and NCAA Tournaments go on. He had 15 point and 12 rebounds in the win.
The Big XII is now 10-3 in the past eight days.

No Joy in Knoxville

You knew it would happen someday. As a Lady Vols fan, I always hoped that it wouldn't, but inside I think we all knew it would happen.
There would come a year, when Tennessee wouldn't get to the Sweet Sixteen. In all of the years that there has been a Women's NCAA Tournament, the Lady Vols had advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen in each and every one of them. Until 2009. Coming off of back-to-back National Championships, the reloading just proved to be too much for Pat Summitt's young squad this year.
But still, the Lady Vols were a #5 seed, and figured to at least get past the first round. Apparently, Ball State didn't get the memo, and in what will be one of that school's athletics program's greatest moments, defeated Tennessee 71-55.
In the Lady Cardinals' NCAA Tournament debut, they put on the show of their lives and capped the worst UT season ever under Coach Summitt. Granted, Tennessee is young and played, as Summitt said, "tentative, maybe uptight". But give credit to Ball State, who used an up tempo game and did not back down.
Porchia Green had 23 point for the Lady Cardinals in the biggest win in team history.

Enjoying the Ride

You know, it's not every season that you get to see a player the caliber of Blake Griffin wearing the uniform of the team you cheer for. Watching #23 on Thursday and Saturday has been special.
Blake has brought the level of play at Oklahoma up two or three notches. He has maintained his composure in the face of very difficult situations. And he makes the incredible (The Dunk) and great shots seem like they are just a walk in the park.
61 points, accompanied by 30 boards, in two games in the NCAA's is not something done by just anyone. And Blake does it with class.
And for all of the fans who are tired of seeing Blake's parents in the crowd and hearing all of the talk about what B. Griffin is doing every second of the contest, I'm really not sorry for you. Now you might have a sliver of an idea of what it was like to watch the National Championship game with the continual commentary revolving around TimTebow (one word).
But I'm not bitter. Really.
I'm just enjoying the ride this year as long as it will go.

Day Three, Second Round, Big XII

The conference suffered its first losses in the Tournament on Saturday, but there was no question that the Texas schools would not go down without a fight.
Duke had defeated Texas in the three previous meetings in this series' history by large margins, but that wasn't the case this season. In a hard-fought contest that came down to the wire, the Longhorns showed that the gap between these two programs has been diminished greatly.
Texas A&M ran into a Connecticut team that is returning to mid-season form (which was #1 in the country) or better and had their coach back on the sideline after a small excursion to the hospital. The Aggies never really had a chance.
Only Oklahoma kept the Big XII from coming up empty on the day. The Sooners took out Michigan and Blake Griffin had another stellar day. 33 points and 17 rebounds - just an average day at the office.
The conference is now 7-2 after the first three days.
Here's a look at Saturday:
Connecticut 92, Texas A&M 66
Duke 74, Texas 69
Oklahoma 73, Michigan 63

Day Two, First Round, Big XII

The Big East and the Big Ten each had 7 teams to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-10, along with the Big XII, got 6 teams to the Big Dance. Of all of these major conferences with many teams representing them, only one conference did not suffer a loss in the first round. That's right: the Big XII. 6 games, 6 wins.
The bracket saved the best games of the day until the late hours, but the early games had some drama as well. The Tennessee-Oklahoma State contest was a compelling a watch as any. And though I was personally for the Vols in this one, Byron Eaton gave the country an impressive and gutsy performance.
North Dakota State showed many folks that the Bison can play with the big boys. Cornell didn't. Kansas was pushed; Missouri wasn't.
Here's a look at Friday's first round scores:
Oklahoma St. 79, Tennessee 77
Kansas 84, North Dakota St. 74
Missouri 73, Cornell 57

Wow!!!

Siena, Ohio St., Wisconsin, Florida St., ... If you can't enjoy the NCAA Tournament and reason there is the phrase "March Madness", then you should really do some self-evaluation to see if you really are a sports fan.

Day One, First Round, Big XII

So far so good for the Big XII. One day into the NCAA Tournament and the boys from the heart of the country have gone 3 for 3.
Good shooting was the order of the day for the Longhorns, the Sooners, and the Aggies, who led the way making their first 10 shots from the field in a rematch of last year's first-round game with BYU.
And speaking of good shooting, look no further than Blake Griffin and his 11-12 shooting performance or A.J. Abrams and his 8 three-pointers (which has him now tied for fourth place in career three-pointers made in the NCAA Tournament).
Thursday's scores were as follows:
Texas A&M 79, BYU 66
Texas 76, Minnesota 62
Oklahoma 82, Morgan State 54

The Big XII in the Big Dance

Here are the Big XII first-round matchups and scheduled tip times:

West 8 BYU vs. 9 Texas A&M, Thurs., 11:30 am
East 7 Texas vs. 10 Minnesota, Thurs., 6:10 pm
South 2 Oklahoma vs. 15 Morgan State, Thurs., 8:40 pm
East 8 Oklahoma St. vs. 9 Tennessee, Fri., 11:25 am
Midwest 3 Kansas vs. 14 North Dakota St., Fri., 11:30 am
West 3 Missouri vs. 14 Cornell, Fri., 2:00 pm

Is That Your Final Answer?

Hey everyone. If you still have a pink sheet out, you need to get them in to me by Thursday at 10:59 am. Some of you are e-mailing yours in so at least get it "e-postmarked" by that time.
Thanks and good luck.

Observations and Ruminations

What have we learned this week?

► The next time that you hear that a conference might put 10 teams in the NCAA tournament, go ahead and laugh out loud. Not just the lol version, I mean actually embarrass the person that said it by Laughing Out Loud! It’s probably not going to hurt that person’s feelings anyway because they are most likely from the East and the clear East Coast Bias that would allow them to make such a reality-abandoned statement will filter out any pain that being laughed at might cause another human.
No, the Big East did not get 10 teams in the Tournament. They got 7 in. Not bad, but not 10. And that’s OK and appropriate. The Big East is good league, but no conference is that much better than the others, even with the principle that the Committee uses in disregarding conference affiliation. Sorry to all of you northeastern media-types. No matter how much you campaign for the Big East throughout the regular season, the Selection Committee is still in control. Thankfully.
Now, having said all that, the fact that three of the four #1 seeds coming out of the Big East – well-deserved.

► The #2 seed given to Oklahoma (albeit in a very tough subregion) is proof that the Committee does consider many factors. The injury sustained by Blake Griffin made a huge difference in the Sooners’ win-loss record at the end of the season. Here’s to hoping that OU lives up to the faith of the Committee and makes it to at least the Elite Eight, and in doing so shuts up Seth Davis, who doesn’t give them a snowball’s chance against either Syracuse or Clemson.

► In women’s basketball this season, Southeastern and Central are incredibly evenly matched. Period. Yeah, that’s all I have to say about that.


From my vantage...

First United Bank Center (Home of the West Texas A&M Aggies) – OTA rating 9 out of 10

College Basketball in March

The casualties of the Conference Tournaments:

Thursday: #2 Pittsburgh, #6 Oklahoma, #11 Kansas, #17 Clemson, #21 Marquette and #3 Connecticut was partially on Thursday and partially on Friday
Friday: #8 Wake Forest, #10 Villanova, #13 Washington, #15 UCLA, #19 Xavier, #25 BYU
Saturday: #1 North Carolina, #7 Michigan State, #18 Syracuse, #20 LSU, #23 Arizona State

Not On The Air After All

Scratch that! The KSEO tower is down and the show for this week is cancelled.
See you next Saturday.

On The Air

After the long drive back from Canyon, we'll be back on the air from the friendly confines of the studio this morning.
Among the topics that J.B., Jim, and I will be discussing are:
● The Durant Lions
● Southeastern Women’s Basketball, Baseball, and Softball
● The Big XII Tournament and Selection Sunday
● Danny Rennels and the OSSAA
● J.B.’s bag of tricks and trash talk about Tennessee that will drive someone from North Durant nuts
Be sure to tune in this morning.

One And Done

Southeastern made its third trip to the NCAA Tournament on Friday in the South Central Regional. The Savage Storm came up just short in their first round game matchup against Central Oklahoma, falling 68-66 in overtime. UCO is now 26-5 and moves on to play Washburn in the round of 32. SOSU ends this season at 21-9. Here's the boxscore.
These two evenly matched teams showed just how comparable they are through even the microcosm of this game. UCO won the first half 34-28; SOSU won the second half 34-28. The Storm scored the first four points of the OT and led 66-62 with about 3 minutes remaining, but wouldn't score again.
Destiny Brown led all scorers with 21 points and with her 18 rebounds put together her 19th double-double of the season. Ashley Tucker had 12 points in her final game for Southeastern. Fellow senior Channing Gann had 3 points and 4 assists.
Southeastern went only 25-65 from the field (38.5%). They were down 19-8 early on, due in large part to the many missed shots from close range and an abundance of turnovers. However, they came out with a lot of intensity after the break. Big defensive stands accompanied a little more patience on the offensive end turning it into quite a tight contest for the final 15 minutes of regulation and the extra session.
In the matchup between the teams' headliners, Brown beat Central's Lizzie Brenner easily. Brenner had only 7 points on a 1-6 shooting performance and had 6 boards.
Rose Anderson played the game of her life. She logged 41 minutes and had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Christina Yarbrough was the other key player for the Bronchos. The guard did a great job handling the ball for UCO (when she wasn't on the bench with foul trouble) and had 10 points, including the game-winner with 2 seconds left in OT.
Southeastern won 20 games in a season for the first time since 2002. The Storm will miss Tucker and Gann next year, but this post-season experience could play a big role in the next season's success.
Coach Darin Grover said that he believes Southeastern appearances in the post-season should be the rule and not the exception. This program is certainly on a pace to make that a reality.

So Close...And They've Gone So Far

Face it, folks, making it to the final four (lowercase) is something to be very proud of. The Lady Lions ran into the buzzsaw that is Carl Albert and fell 62-39 to the (24-3) Titans.
Congratulations again go out to the 2008-2009 Lady Lions for making it farther than any other team in the program's history.

The Pink Sheets Are Coming

Selection Sunday is this weekend! Yea!
For those of you who know what the Pink Sheets are, they will be available in my office on Monday morning.

Goodbye #1 Seed, #2 Seed, ...

71-70. The Cowboys defeated the Sooners in the Big XII Tournament. OU fans have already said Goodbye to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament next week, but now can say Bye Bye to a #2 seed and probably #3 as well.

Victory!!!

The Durant Lady Lions defeated Claremore 39-37 tonight to bring the first win at the State Tournament level in the history of the girls' basketball program.
Reagan Browne led Durant in scoring with 16 points. The Lady Lions found themselves down 13-4 early in the game, but used a 14-1 to come back and take an 18-17 lead into the break.
Durant will take on the winner of Carl Albert and Bishop Kelley tomorrow at 1:30.

State!

OK, so I haven't been able to properly document the Lady Lions' trek through the post-season and it looks like I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but so be it.
Durant has made it to the Class 5A State Tournament. Congratulations to coach Barry Hudson and the Lady Lions, who defeated El Reno 32-30 and Altus 45-43 in the Area Tournament to advance. After coming up just short the previous two seasons, Durant finally made it back to the big stage for the first time since 1997.
They'll be playing Claremore, who will be making their 11th consecutive appearance in the State Tournament.

On The Road Again

Southeastern is one of four Lone Star Conference teams that will be taking part in the NCAA Div. II Tournament. J.B. and I are on the way to Amarillo, Texas, today where we will be staying before heading to West Texas A&M in Canyon tomorrow. WTAMU is the #1 seed in the South Central Region and the Aggies are playing host to the eight-team field. Abilene Christian also made the field as the #8 seed. You can see the full bracket here.
The Savage Storm women are the #6 seed in the region and will face a familiar foe in the first round in the #3 seed Central Oklahoma Bronchos. SOSU and UCO split the two games they played in the Lone Star North Division schedule, with the home team winning each time. And both teams were eliminated from the conference tournament by the same team - West Texas A&M. WTAMU beat Southeastern 95-65 in the semis and then took out Central 66-59 to win the championship (their 3rd in 4 years!).
Southeastern is making its first trip the NCAA Tournament since 2002. The then-Lady Savages lost in the LSC semis that year and then went on a five-game winning streak which took them al the way to the NCAA Div. II title game. SOSU lost that game to Cal-Poly Pomona 74-62 in Rochester, MN.
The game tomorrow will be broadcast on KSEO 750 AM. Tip is at 1:00 pm and our pre-game will start at 12:50.

I'm Back

Hey everyone.
Long time, no blog.
Well, I've got to tell you that coaching takes a lot out of you. I really tried to blog throughout the season and, as you may have noticed, I got only a little past halfway through.
But the seasons were great! The girls finished with a winning record (12-11) and did so in dramatic fashion with incredible come-from-way-behind wins over Haworth and Coleman to close out the regular season. The boys earned the school's first ever Boys' District Championship by defeating Eagletown 50-40 in the title game. They ended the campaign at 12-14.
There will be more info on the seasons with recaps later on, but after an absence of nearly two months, the site needed an update. I'm pretty much rested and recovered now and ready for March Madness.
Bring it.