So with March creeping up, it's time to start talking possible Cinderellas

I'll start off with Air Force, who is usually below sea level in the MWC, but now have a 4-0 start (14-2 overall) under Carril/Carmody disciple Joe Scott. The Falcons just finished a Utah/BYU sweep.

[ January 26, 2004, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Breesboy ]

Very impressive, Breesboy....I thought I was the only one who had been paying close attention to Air Force's impressive play this season (and not just because starting guard Tim Keller is one of the cutest players in the country, either wink )....I watched their entire game Monday night against Utah (thanks to ESPN's FullCourt package, which for any college hoops fan is well worth the money -- ESPN oughta give me some incentive for plugging it as often as I do ) and while the Falcons may not have much size/height (they don't have a single player on the roster taller than 6'9'' and no one over 6'7'' sees any appreciable playing time) the teamwork and fundamentals that Princeton alum Joe Scott has instilled is awfully fun to watch....their 12 game winning streak and 14-2 record is largely overlooked due to the mediocrity of the MWC (and the lack of national publicity) but as any team that has faced Princeton over the years can attest their patient offense and sound defense could enable AFA to pull off a surprise or two come March.

Although they are in a major confernnce, Iowa St. is starting to fit themselves into a potential NCAA bid with a win over Kansas. Wayne Morgan should be Big XII coach of the year, if the Clones (13-4, 4-2) are at .500 in confernce play.

Air Force is having a great year. With the Big 10 and Pac 10 kinda down, it would be nice to see some mid-majors grab the spotlight but not too many are. My favorite mid-major, Butler, is not doing well. Other than Air Force, I like Southern Illinois (again) from the MVC and Western Michigan or Kent State from the MAC.

Just got done watching the SIU game on Fox Sports Net and the Salukis haven't lost a beat without Weber (now if they can get an SIU-Illinois game going) I think if the Salukis stay under 5 losses, they should be a Top 6 seed, especially with the way ALL the big conferences are beating up on each other.

I think a TOP 6 seed may be a bit optimistic given the "strength of conference" that the committee always seems to place a high degree of importance upon but, regardless of ranking, I know I'll be rooting for them come March....some of the most exciting games in the entire tournament are those involving "mid-majors" during the first and second rounds when teams like SIU, Valpo, Ball State, Santa Clara, Hampton and Richmond have all pulled off memorable upsets in recent years....even though everyone knows the odds of one of these "cinderellas" making it all the way to the Final Four are extremely slim (wasn't Penn the last "miracle" team to advance that far in 1979 before getting demolished by Magic Johnson's Michigan State squad in the national semis?) the fact that they still have a chance of pulling off one (or more) unexpected upsets is what makes March Madness so special.

I only hope that the committee will continue the trend that has been evident in the past few years of awarding more at-large bids to "mid-major" teams that had spectacular seasons (but were upset in their post-season conference tournament) as opposed to rewarding a mediocre team from a "big name conference" that inevitably goes down to defeat in round one.

[ January 31, 2004, 10:13 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]