The Morris' Are Going To The NBA

Both Marcus and Markieff Morris are foregoing their senior seasons at Kansas and going to the NBA. There is also no turning back as they are hiring agents as well. Marcus, a second-team All-American, averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, while Markieff was an honorable mention All-American after averaging 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds. The only other Kansas player now is Josh Selby who is in draft limbo. This certainly will hurt Kansas but they have guys who replace them as DeAndre Daniels, a 6-8 forward from Florida and Braeden Anderson, a 6-8, 215-pound forward from Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts is coming in.

Which leads me to my next point. I hate twins in sports, especially the NBA. I hated the Collins (Jason and Jarron) and hated the Lopez's (Brook and Robin), but at least these twins didn't go to Stanford. Twins entering the same draft is going to be overhyped and a stupid story, it also makes research that much more difficult when trying to talk about one of them. It's bullshit actually. So from now on I think that twins shouldn't be let in the NBA in the same draft.

NCAA Recaps

Well your Final Four is UConn, Kentucky, Butler and VCU (Yea... VCU)

We will start with the UConn/ Arizona game which ended 65-63, I'm not a big UConn or Kemba Walker fan however you can't deny what they have done this tournament. Walker seems to hit every clutch shot and they are playing like a really team on a mission. They have proved to win close games and last game was no different. Arizona could have won the game on a 3 pointer by Jamelle Horne, however it clanked out and UConn advances.

74 Butler, 71 Florida

I'm happy that Florida is out but I'm not thrilled that we are going to see VCU or Butler in the National Championship game. Butler was in the championship last year and lost to Duke and now Brad Stevens and Butler are marching back the final 4. Led by Shelvin Mack with 27 points and some awful late plays from Florida they were able to hang on.

76 Kentucky, 69 UNC
What turned out to be a scary game at the end Kentucky was able to go to the final 4 for the 1st time since 1998. UNC played flat for a majority of the game until Harrsion Barnes got all number 1 pick on everyone and got the game within 2. But it seemed everytime UNC came knocking on the door a well timed 3 by Brandon Knight or anyone else by Kentucky. It was a great win and now Kentucky is taking on UConn, who whooped them earlier this year.

71 VCU, 61 Kansas
Kansas just didn't play well and VCU is advancing to the final 4. What really goes to show you the true grit of this VCU team is when they blew a 15 point lead and were able to right the ship, not get flustered and still pull out the win.

Way To Go Kansas, K-State upsets #1 Kansas 84-68

Cuban Head Coach Frank Martin can certainly rally the troops, as Kansas did an awful choke job as they were ranked number 1 in the Country a couple of hours before the loss.

Kansas State really needed this win to stay relevant in college basketball figuring they have had somewhat of a disappointing season after such high pre season hopes. I also was happy for senior guard Jacob Pullen who scored a career high 38 points in what was a wire to wire defeat.

This opens up the NCAA a little bit, this will knock Kansas down a peg or two, will boost K-State back into the top 25 and most likely (sigh) make Duke the number 1 team in the country again. Looking ahead to tournament time I don't see that completely dominant team out there. Ohio State relies to much on Jared Sullinger, Kansas could get complacent again, Kentucky can't get their shit together on the road and Duke's injuries will come to bite them in the ass.

A big game tonight will be Michigan State vs Ohio State. If Michigan State is able to win they will be boosted up to relevancy again, if not, they might not even make the tournament.

Big Day in NCAAB

Both Kentucky and Kansas fell for the second time today. The Jayhawks were upset by Oklahoma State, which should crank up URI's win over the Cowboys a bit more, even though it was early in the season. (More on that in a minute.) Personally, I've been rooting for OSU all year so that win holds up. Kentucky went down at the hands of Bruce Pearl's Tennessee Vols and that awful orange jacket he wears.

Sherron Collins poured in 22 for the Jayhawks, but also turned the ball over a season-high six times. 101 of the Jayhawks previous 102 opponents had been held under 50%, but the Cowboys shot over 60%! James Anderson, who leads the conference in scoring dropped 27 to lead the Cowboys to victory.


As for Kentucky, they were trailing much of the game by a fairly wide margin, and managed to cut the deficit from 19 to tie it up late in the game. Kentucky was an ice-cold 2-22 from three. Wall had 19 and Cousins chipped in 15, but it wasn't enough. What looked like a snoozer of a game to begin with, turned into the game of the week as Tennessee turned it up late behind J.P. Prince who got 6 of his 20 in the final 90 seconds of the game.


In all likely hood, these two will still be #1 seeds barring any further slip-ups the rest of the way. I think Kansas will be the consensus #1 heading into the tourney, and Kentucky should be a #1 as well. These two teams are stacked, although Kentucky is very young. Kansas on the other hand has some championship pedigree and should be a good bet to get back to the Final Four.

Rhode Island fuckin' choked and lost to a bad 13-14 St Bonaventure on the road. Jim Baron really needs to lose his job. I don't know if the team quits on him, he is incapable of making adjustments or a combination of both, but it is ridiculous. And I think most Rhode Islanders are pretty sick of watching the rerun every year. Things are looking up for ASU and Cal who should be fighting for a 2nd PAC-10 spot as some of these A-10 teams stumble.

Texas A&M put a thumping on Texas. The Longhorns seem to be falling apart at the seams in typical Rick Barnes fashion, except usually he drags everyone along to the 2nd rd. This year it would seem they are getting an early start on the disappointment.

It's almost March, baby! And things are getting interesting!

Current College BBall Rankings

AP POLL:
# SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREV RANK
1 Kansas (61) 9-0 1620 1
2 Texas (1) 9-0 1512 2
3 Kentucky (1) 10-0 1486 4
4 Purdue 9-0 1426 5
5 Syracuse (2) 10-0 1388 7
6 West Virginia 7-0 1315 6
7 Duke 8-1 1137 8
8 Villanova 9-1 1107 3
9 Tennessee 8-1 1104 9
10 UNC 8-2 1039 11
11 Georgetown 8-0 1008 15
12 Michigan St. 8-2 922 12
13 Florida 8-1 864 10
14 Connecticut 6-2 762 14
15 Gonzaga 8-2 505 21
16 Texas Tech 9-0 492 23
17 Kansas State 9-1 391 29
18 Ohio State 8-2 383 13
19 New Mexico 11-0 364 35
20 Mississippi 9-1 334 25
21 Butler 7-3 257 22
22 Georgia Tech 8-1 253 24
23 Texas A&M 8-2 221 16
24 Washington 6-2 179 17
25 Cincinnati 6-3 174 19

Others Receiving Votes: Memphis(7-1) 129; Wisconsin(8-2) 110; UNLV(8-1) 96; Clemson(9-2) 84; Temple(8-2) 83; Northwestern(8-1) 59; Illinois(8-2) 44; Miami (Fla.)(10-1) 40; St. John's(8-1) 30; Oklahoma State(9-1) 29; Dayton(7-2) 24; Charlotte(8-1) 24; Seton Hall(8-0) 24; Florida State(8-2) 23; Missouri State(9-0) 20; Brigham Young(8-1) 14; Mississippi State(8-2) 9; Virginia Tech(8-1) 7; Baylor(8-1) 6; Minnesota(8-3) 5; Rhode Island(8-1) 3; Cornell(7-2) 3; North Carolina State(7-1) 3; Tulsa(7-1) 3; Wake Forest(7-2) 2; Western Carolina(10-1) 2; Northern Iowa(7-1) 2; Pittsburgh(8-2) 2; Army(7-2) 1; William & Mary(6-2) 1

Turner Gill Takes Kansas Job

As head coach at Buffalo the past four years, he compiled a 20-30 record after inheriting a program with only 12 wins in the previous eight seasons. The Mid-American coach of the year in 2007 and 2008, he guided the Bulls to the MAC championship in 2008 and their first bowl game in half a century.

He called plays in 2007 when the Bulls set a school record with 424 points. A native of Fort Worth, he also proved effective in recruiting players in Texas -- something that is key to success for just about any Big 12 program. ESPN

I love Turner Gill and believe he got a coaching job a year late. (I'm looking at you Auburn) His success with Buffalo is pretty good, even though he has a sub .500 record there what can you expect with that program. He will be very successful in Kansas as Mark Mangino's replacement.

In other coaching news Jim Harbaugh finally made his long-awaited three-year contract extension official Sunday, when the announced a deal that keeps him under contract through 2014. The two sides were close to announcing the extension last year, but put it on hold because of the troubled economy.

Mark Mangino Steps Down As Kansas Coach

Kansas coach Mark Mangino has resigned two years after leading the Jayhawks to the greatest season in their football history.

ESPN's Joe Schad first reported the story on Thursday night. The university made the announcement as athletic director Lew Perkins met with players to give them the news. The two sides have reached a buyout, Schad reported. ESPN

Mangino is under a lotof scrutiny due to players coming out and saying he was just a prick. His former players said he was mentally and physically abusive. I like it, because if a 500 pound coach can really get into a players head, I'm for it. There was one report that he made his players grab walk on hot tar and it gave pretty good burns. Either way I think this is a mistake and Kansas Football program is going to have a lot of bad years to come. Mangino made them relevant, and I don't see another coach doing that.

AP NCAA BBall Top 25

Well its officially college basketball season and after the first week of games, there have sure been some good ones. Here is a look at where the Associated Press Top 25 Ranking stand as of right now:

1. Kansas (58) 3-0
2. Michigan St. (5) 2-0
3. Texas (1) 1-0
4. Kentucky (1) 3-0
5. Villanova 3-0
6. North Carolina 4-0
7. Purdue 1-0
8. West Virgina 1-0
9. Duke 3-0
10. Tennessee 2-0
11. Butler 2-0
12. UConn 3-0
13. California 2-1
14. Washington 3-0
15. Michigan 1-0
16. Ohio St. 2-1
17. Oklahoma 2-0
18. Dayton 2-0
19. Georgetown 2-0
20. Louisville 1-0
21. Georgia Tech 1-1
22. Clemson 2-0
23. Illinois 2-0
24. Minnesota 2-0
25. Maryland 2-0

Others Receiving Votes: Siena(2-0) 125; Notre Dame(3-0) 91; Vanderbilt(1-0) 82; Florida State(2-0) 76; Syracuse(3-0) 67; Wake Forest(3-0) 59; Florida(2-0) 58; Oklahoma State(2-0) 57; South Carolina(3-0) 42; UCLA(0-1) 36; Xavier(2-0) 36; Brigham Young(2-0) 28; Gonzaga(1-1) 22; Tulsa(3-0) 21; Kansas State(3-0) 19; Mississippi State(1-1) 16; Northern Iowa(1-0) 16; Texas A&M(2-0) 8; Missouri(1-0) 7; Rider(2-1) 7; Boston College(2-0) 6; Mississippi(3-0) 6; Pittsburgh(3-0) 3; Virginia Commonwealth(1-1) 2; Cornell(2-0) 1; Old Dominion(3-0) 1; Utah State(1-1) 1; Western Kentucky(1-1) 1

Rhode Island Update:

1-0
11/18 Rhode Island 78 - Brown 57

Next URI Game: Holy Cross @ URI 11/22 1pm

Mark Mangino and Mark Mangino Baby May Be In Trouble

The school said Tuesday that it is investigating an unspecified personnel issue involving coach Mark Mangino, the national coach of the year two seasons ago. And Mangino -- his team mired in a five-game losing streak -- conceded that he's lost the support of "some people around here."

Mangino is alleged to have grabbed, yelled at and put his finger in the chest of a player who had been laughing at a walkthrough or practice prior to the Colorado game on Oct. 17, two people briefed on the situation told ESPN's Joe Schad on Tuesday night. That was a key incident among others that have been raised by players or parents. ESPN

So let me get this right. Mark Mangino is being investigated due to him being a dick? Listen they are amidst a 5 game losing streak, if I were football coach I would be a dick to most of my football players. Another report is that he publicly humiliates his players. So what, I always thought that came with the territory, and how could these students not have thick enough skin to laugh it off and realize that the guy making fun of them is a fat whale. Anyways, if they get rid of Mangino they will be making the biggest mistake in program history. Mangino rescued them from the doldrums of hell and made Kansas relevant in football.

Scot Pollard Assisting in Recruiting Violations?

Remember that little tussle between the Kansas Jayhawks football and basketball teams? You know, the one where KU guard Tyshawn Taylor wound up in the hospital before taking the fight to Twitter. That was fun.

Well, it hasn't been a great couple of months for Taylor. In Mid-September, a car allegedly belonging to Taylor was invovlved in a fendor bender while being driven by teammate Markieffe Morris. Morris reported the car as Taylor's but the police found it actually belonged to former Jayhawk (and Celtic) STUD Scot Pollard. Soooo what gives here?

Pollard claims he sold the car to Taylor but the sale hadn't been finalized due to an inability to find a fair price. Confident a deal would work itself out, Pollard allowed Taylor to continue driving the vehicle. Both Pollard and the KU Athletic Department claim the sale was approved but the situation remains sketchy.

This would not be the first case of an allumni providing prospects or current players with cash, money or other gifts and this isn't to say that is what's even going on here. It's just another negative story involving the KU hoops team (and Taylor) before the season even starts. Don't forget, this is your preseason number 1 team in the country. Bill Self needs to get control fast. The fight, the DUI's, the lack of discipline...sets the stage for a very disappointing 2009/2010 campaign.

How The Bigs Have Fallen

Yesterday was a day of surprises, upsets, and 4 hour games. UConn, Pitt, Oklahoma AND Kansas all fell yesterday. I'm not going to get into the UConn game because Wilde already took care of that but let me quickly touch on the other games.

74 West Virginia, 60 Pittsburgh

Offensively Pitt did not have it yesterday. Bob Huggins implemented a perfect game plan and with the scoring coming from Da'Sean Butler (16), Devin Ebanks (20), and Alex Ruoff (18), Pittsburgh didn't know how to respond. After West Virginia was able to get Blair into foul trouble this team didn't know how to step up. This makes me scared come tournament time, because the Panther rely to heavily on Blair and in the three games Blair has fouled out this year, Pitt is 0-3.

71 Oklahoma State, 70 Oklahoma

Big game James Anderson won the game on 2 free throws with 2.3 seconds to upend the overrated Sooners. Blake Griffen had a big game with 17 points and 19 rebounds, however, he was the one that fouled Anderson while tussling for a rebound. With this loss Oklahoma lost a chance to be a number 1 seed and possibly a number 2 seed in the impending tournament. Oklahoma is scaring me a lot with this late collapse, and will be very difficult to judge coming up.

71 Baylor, 64 Kansas

LaceDarius Dunn. Dunn is the reason for this upset as he dropped 24 points by drilling 6 3 pointers.

College Football Picks

(1) Texas vs (6) Oklahoma State

Last week I went against Texas and they screwed me. So this week I am going to pick them to beat the surprising Oklahoma State Cowboys. Colt McCoy is the best quarterback in the country and his stats are video game like. RB Chris Ogbonnaya not only has an awesome name but will be able to run over this Oklahoma State defense all day. I like Zac Robinson, but sorry you just aren't going to win this game but they keep it somewhat close.

Texas 35-28

(3)Penn State vs (9) Ohio State


Penn State all the way. Penn State has a better offense and a better defense. The big story will be the two QBs, PSU Darrell Clark and OSU Terrelle Pryor. Clark has been the biggest surprise in college football and has been able to run an unbelievable offense. Pryor on the other hand has been able to bring Ohio State back and ranked in the top ten, but he will not be enough to take this game.

Penn State 42-28

(7)Georgia vs (12) LSU

LSU needs to win this game and they know it. After getting embarrassed by Florida they need to win out and that starts with Georgia. It is at Tiger stadium and that will mean all the fans will be in their corner. Jarrett Lee has had an up and down season and will have to straighten out to beat a tough Georgia defense. I am not worried about LSU's defense stopping Knowshon Moreno even though he is averaging over 100 yards a game. Georgia's offensive line is their biggest weakness and look for LSU to take advantage of that.
LSU 21 to 10

(7)Texas Tech vs (23) Kansas

Tech easily. I hate Kansas and I don't think they should do well in football and for that reason alone I am picking Tech big.

Tech 42 to 7

College Football Picks

(10)Georgia vs (22) Vanderbilt

Georgia is a better team and I hate Vandy. Moreno and Stafford are due for a big game and Georgia needs to win this game if they ever want to be talked in National Title talks again. Their defense is good enough to stop the Vandy rushing attack. Watch for AJ Green to have a huge game.

Georgia 35-10
(1) Texas vs (11) Missouri

After a huge loss against Oklahoma State, Mizzou is going to pissed and the Video game offense is going to knock out the number 1 team in the country again. Colt McCoy is going to be able to throw all over Mizzou's secondary, however this is going to be a game of points.

Mizzou 42-35
(20) Michigan State vs (12) Ohio State

This game should be focused on two players Michigan States Javon Ringer and Ohio States Terrell Pryor. Unfortunately for Ohio State, I am really high on Michigan State and Ringer so they are going to win a tough fought battle.

Mich State 21-14
(4) Oklahoma vs (16) Kansas

Sam Bradford and Oklahoma are going to come into this game pissed and believe it carries into the game. Even though Oklahoma's secondary is sometimes suspect, I believe the will keep Kansas' Todd Reesing in check.

Oklahoma 35-10

And Wow

Absolutely Amazing.

It is so, so rare for a sporting event surrounded with hype to actually live up or beat your expectations. For 26 years I have toiled away watching countless championships in every major sport only to be disappointed by the underdog failing to defy odds or even worse, failing to keep the contest interesting. In a match up like this, while there was no true dog, there was more than enough potential for a one sided route a' la Kansas, UNC on Saturday night.

We finally got a good one and I could not have been more satisfied. Kansas and Memphis played it close the entire game. Until the final five minutes, the game was played within a six point range. The quality of play was solid on both sides of the ball with excellent defensive efforts out of guys like Brandon Rush and Robert Dozier. The Jayhawks were able to keep Derrick Rose in check for the first three quarters of the game and Memphis did not let Mario Chalmers or Rush beat them.

If nothing else, the game was complete. Everybody loves clutch and what could be more clutch than the 3-pointer Chalmers drained with 2.1 on the clock? Prior to that, Rose was sick of being treated like Sherron Collins' bitch all night and single handedly put Memphis up nine with under three to play. That was a pretty clutch four minutes of basketball, wouldn't you agree?

On top of the clutch, we got the choke. We heard about Memphis' charity stripe woes all year long. Calipari said his boys would make the ones that counted and until the last two minutes of tonight's game, he was pretty accurate. CDR and Rose turned into JJ Redick on the line. But when the pressure was on and the lights were their brightest, CDR missed three and Rose missed another. Any one of the four could have iced the game. There is a reason why we love the Chris Weber timeout call 50 years after the fact and its because we love the choke. Well guess what? We have another 50 years of video role.

Yes, the game had it all and better than a happy ending after an exotic massage we got some Luthor Vandross "One Shining Moment" to top it all off. What a night.

Box Score

Why I Hate UNC

As a gigantic Duke fan, it seems pretty natural that I would hate the Tar Holes but the truth is, until last night I really was not filled with outright hatred towards them. I absolutely love the Tobacco Road rivalry and I'm a big ACC guy so it is not horrible to see them do well. Especially when Duke is sucking balls. Somebody has to carry the banner for the ACC right?

Well, my respectful dislike has just crossed the line into full blown disgust. Normally, I get excited when UNC is bounced from the tourney and it was hard to watch them win it all in 2005. A part of me felt like this year was theirs again and I had already come to grips with 2 titles in 4 years. The way they were blowing teams out over the past few weekends was impressive to say the least. So I said fuck it, I'm putting my money on these fucksticks.

Last night was a gamblers dream with Memphis giving up 2 and a hook and UNC giving 4. It all seemed like such a sure thing. I took a little parlay action betting 1 to win 4 on both favorites. Memphis held up their end of the deal easily beating the UCLA. All UNC had to do was beat a team full of choke artists that barely escaped the Elite 8 matchup with Davidson.

We all know what happened and now I'm a hundo in the hole in stead of 3 in the black. Fuck You Pyscho T, Fuck You Wayne, Fuck You Ty and most of all Fuck You Roy you terrible excuse for D1 coach.