EZ The Blog

When a washed-up sports radio host has only one outlet left.

I’ve always wanted to go to the Big East Tournament.  I’ve never been to Madison Square Garden and I thought this year may be the year where I could pull it off.

So I got tickets, for the whole shebang… and I can’t go.

So I sold my two tickets in the lower level (Row F) for all 15 games of the tournament for $1,500.  I was under the gun, and I let the buyer (a Villanova fan) off with a good deal ($750 per ticket–or $50 per game–compared to what they’ve sold for on StubHub, is a STEAL).

So I decided to check out the average prices for similar tickets at all of the big conference tournaments FOR ALL SESSIONS, to see which ticket was really the most valuable.  Here’s what I came up with.

Big East: $1,695 ($113/game) – Probably could’ve sold mine for a lot closer to this price per ticket if I would’ve moved a little quicker.

SEC: $956 ($87/game)

ACC: $626 ($57/game)

Big 12: $589 ($54/game)

Big Ten: $419 ($42/game)

Pac 10: $340 ($38/game)

So, there you go.  If I’m going for value, I’m heading to Conseco Fieldhouse for the Big Ten Tournament.  I was surprised by the price of the ticket for the SEC Tournament.  Well done, Kentucky (I refuse to give any other team credit for the price of that ticket, not even my man Bruce Pearl).

I’ve been so bad about posting, but I’m a busy guy. The daily radio show (and all that surrounds it), is a full time job. My apologies (as if you care)!

Howie Lindsey, with CardinalSports.com, send local media a list of games each week for us to pick winners on. I’ve been near the top (at least last I checked), but NOT QUITE THERE.

With it being championship week, instead of picking winners of individual games, it’s time for us to pick conference champions.

Here are my picks:
BIG EAST – WVU
BIG 12 – KANSAS
ACC – DUKE
PAC-10 – WASHINGTON
BIG TEN – MICH ST
MOUNTAIN WEST – BYU
ATLANTIC-10 – RHODE ISLAND
CONFERENCE USA – UAB
SUN BELT – NORTH TEXAS
SEC – KENTUCKY

Where have I gone wrong? Let me know.

If you needed an “honorable mention” reason against college football coaches voting for ANYTHING, up to and including a poll which has a direct effect on the BCS National Championship, see exhibit A B C YY.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ll always take me a Tim Tebow at Florida or a Jevan Snead at Ole Miss. They’re your first- and second-team quarterbacks selected by the SEC coaches for the preseason 2009. And most would agree, those are accurate.

Whose third?

Not Jordan Jefferson at LSU. Not even Ryan Mallett at Arkansas. Oh no.

It’s a tie! Stephen Garcia of South Carolina and… drum roll please.

MIKE HARTLINE AT KENTUCKY!?

Stunning, considering that Hartline is getting a serious run for his money at the quarterback position at his own school.

And for further debate, let’s compare. Let’s look at another conference’s third-teamer.

Let’s try, oh I don’t know, the daunting Mountain West Conference.

Phil Steele’s third-team All-MVC is Andy Dalton of TCU. His stats last year: 2,242 yds, 11 TD, and 5 INT.

The two SEC co-third teamers combined: 2,498 yds, 15 TD, 16 INT.

Wow. Impressive.

Howie Lindsey at the Louisville Sports Report and CardinalSports.com does something with a bunch of the sports media members in Louisville where we pick winners of 10 of the biggest games each week.

Back on March 4th, he had us do it with conference tournaments, picking the winner. Thought I’d share, with some more recent thoughts on my picks.

BIG EAST

At this point, it really doesn’t affect Kentucky. Win against Florida, and you’re the 3-seed in the East. Lose, and you’re the 4-seed.

But UK fans would like to know their path to the title (which you may need to get into the NCAAs, right?) I’m assuming, so here’s what we got from the SEC.

SEC Champions: LSU (13-2)
SEC Eastern Division Champions: Tennessee (10-5)
SEC Western Division Champions: LSU (13-2)

TOURNAMENT SEEDS (as of 3/6)
Eastern Division & Games Remaining
1. Tennessee (10-5) UA (1)
2. South Carolina (9-6) @UG (1)
3. Kentucky (8-7)# @UF (1)
4. Florida (8-7)# UK (1)
5. Vanderbilt (7-8) AR (1)
6. Georgia (3-12) SC (1)
Note: #–Kentucky won only head-to-head meeting prior to Sunday’s game.

Western Division & Games Remaining
1. LSU (13-2) @AU (1)
2. Auburn (9-6) LS (1)
3. Mississippi State (8-7) @UM (1)
4. Ole Miss (7-8) MS (1)
5. Alabama (6-9) @UT (1)
6. Arkansas (2-13) VU (1)

First Round Matchups (if season ended 3/6; Clinched in BOLD)
[E4] Florida vs. [W5] Alabama 1:00 ET
[W3] Mississippi State vs. [E6] Georgia 3:15 ET
[W4] Ole Miss vs. [E5] Vanderbilt 7:30 ET
[E3] Kentucky vs. [W6] Arkansas 9:45 ET
Byes: [W1] LSU, [E1] Tennessee, [W2] Auburn, [E2] South Carolina

Possible Seedings for the Tournament
(Based on tie-breaker scenarios)
1. East–Tennessee
2. East–South Carolina
3. East–Florida/Kentucky
4. East–Florida/Kentucky
5. East–Vanderbilt
6. East–Georgia

1. West–LSU
2. West–Auburn
3. West–Mississippi State/Ole Miss
4. West–Alabama/Mississippi State/Ole Miss
5. West–Alabama/Ole Miss
6. West–Arkansas

SEC Tournament Tie-Breaker Procedures
1. Two-Team Tie: The following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken: A) Won-lost results of head-to-head competition between the two teams. B) Division won-lost record of the two teams (10 games). C) Won-lost record of the two teams versus the No. 1 seed in their division (and proceeding through the No. 6 seed, if necessary). D) Non-division won-lost record of the two teams (six games). E) Won-lost record of the two teams versus the No. 1 seed in the opposite division (and proceeding through the No. 6 seed, if necessary). F) Coin flip by the Commissioner.

2. Three-Team Tie (or more): When three of more teams are tied for a division finish, the following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken. If two teams remain tied after a tiebreaker provision, the two-team tiebreaker formula will be used. A) Total won-lost record of games played among the tied teams (Example: Team A is 3-1, Team B is 2-2 and Team C is 1-3 – - Team A would be seeded highest, Team B second-highest and Team C lowest of the three). B) Division won-lost record of the tied teams (10 games). C) Won-lost record of the tied teams versus the No. 1 seed in their division (and proceeding through the No. 6 seed, if necessary). D) Non-division won-lost record of the tied teams (six games). E) Won-lost record of the tied teams versus the No. 1 seed in the opposite division (and proceeding through the No. 6 seed, if necessary). F) Draw by the Commissioner.

2009 SEC Tournament Scenarios
EASTERN DIVISION
No. 1 seed
Tennessee (10-5) has secured the East No. 1 seed and at least a share of the Eastern Division title
• Tennessee swept the season series with South Carolina should they finish with the same conference record

No. 2 seed
South Carolina (9-6) has secured the East No. 2 seed
• If South Carolina and Kentucky finish tied at 9-7…
– South Carolina swept the season series with Kentucky
• If South Carolina and Florida finish tied at 9-7…
– Florida and South Carolina split their season series
– South Carolina’s division record would be 5-5 and Florida’s would be 5-5
– South Carolina and Florida would both be 0-2 against No. 1 seed Tennessee
– South Carolina swept No. 4 seed Kentucky while Florida would be 1-1

No. 3 seed
Florida (8-7) would secure the East No. 3 seed if…
• Florida wins against Kentucky (8-7) Saturday

Kentucky (8-7) would secure the East No. 3 seed if…
• Kentucky wins against Florida (8-7) Saturday

No. 4 seed
Florida (8-7) would secure the East No. 4 seed if…
• If Florida loses to Kentucky

Kentucky (8-7) would secure the East No. 4 seed if…
• If Kentucky loses to Florida

No. 5 seed
Vanderbilt (7-8) has secured the East No. 5 seed
• If Vanderbilt wins against Arkansas and Kentucky loses to Florida, both teams would finish with 8-8 league records…
– Vanderbilt and Kentucky split the season series
– Vanderbilt would get the No. 5 seed because Kentucky’s (5-5) division record would be better than Vanderbilt’s (3-7)
• If Vanderbilt wins against Arkansas and Florida loses to Kentucky, both teams would finish with 8-8 league records…
– Vanderbilt would get the No. 5 seed because Florida swept the season series

No. 6 seed
Georgia (3-12) has secured the East No. 6 seed

WESTERN DIVISION
No. 1 seed
LSU (13-2) has secured the Western Division title and the West No. 1 seed

No. 2 seed
Auburn (9-6) has secured the West No. 2 seed

No. 3 seed
Mississippi State
• Mississippi State (8-7) can secure the West No. 3 seed with a win at Ole Miss

Ole Miss
• Ole Miss (7-8) can secure the West No. 3 seed with a win over Mississippi State and Alabama loses to Tennessee
– If Ole Miss and Mississippi State finish tied at 8-8…
– Ole Miss would earn the West No. 3 seed because they would have swept the season series

No. 4 seed
Mississippi State would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
• Mississippi State loses to Ole Miss

Alabama would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
• Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State and Alabama wins at Tennessee, both teams would finish with 7-9 records
– Alabama swept the season series and would get the No. 4 seed

Ole Miss would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
• Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State and Alabama loses at Tennessee

No. 5 seed
Alabama would secure the West No. 5 seed if…
• Alabama (6-9) loses to Tennessee or Ole Miss wins against Mississippi State

Ole Miss would secure the West No. 5 seed if…
• Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State and Alabama wins against Tennessee, both teams would have 7-9 league records
– Alabama swept the season series so Ole Miss would get the No. 5 seed

No. 6 seed
Arkansas (2-13) has secured the West No. 6 seed

With the final week of the regular season upon us, let’s take a look at how the local conference tournament brackets would look if they started today.

** EDITORS NOTE: If you have trouble seeing the brackets, just click on them to get a better look.

Big East

I LOVE this time of year.  This part of the season, I think, is a little underrated.  The last couple of weeks of the regular season are almost just as entertaining as the Big Dance itself (keyword: almost).

That being said, here are the games I’ll be keeping an eye on today:

# 18 LSU @ Kentucky
ESPN’s Rece Davis just told me a great stat.  The Bayou Bengals haven’t won at Rupp since 1989.  Whoa.  Is this year the year?  Marcus Thornton may very well be the most underrated player in SEC.  Kentucky’s two-man team must be 100% there today to win, and I think they will be.  In fact, they almost have to be if they want to stay in the tournament.

# 7 Duke @ Virginia Tech
I just don’t buy into Duke this year.  They get a ton of respect from the voters week in and week out, and those voters are more knowledgable than myself.  But I think it’s overblown, and while I think Duke is the better team, I’ll take Malcom Delaney, A.D. Vassallo, and the rest of the Hokies at home in a game that would seal the Hokies at-large dance berth.

Michigan @ Wisconsin
Michigan revived it’s tournament hopes with a win at home against Purdue, but the Wolverines only have two wins away from home all year.  This would be a nice one to put on the resume for John Beilein and company.  I’ll stop short of saying it’s an absolute must-win for Wisconsin to get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, but it’s very close.  The margin of error is slim and will only get slimmer for the Badgers if they lose at home today.

Notre Dame @ # 2 Connecticut
It’s a big game for UConn as they are going for the 1-seed in the Big East Tournament.  Louisville fans will have an eye on this one, as a Notre Dame upset win will mean Louisville controls their own fate for a Big East regular season title and the assumption of a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament that would go along with that (right?).

Another fantastic Saturday!

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m obsessed with college basketball bracketology. What seed will UK be? Will they even be in? Can Louisville get a 1-seed? Is Davidson an at-large bid contender? Whatever.

But how often do we look at how the conference tournament brackets would set up?

Well, let me help you.

I really think this is interesting to see… especially for Kentucky and Indiana. These are your roads to the dance. Now, obviously, Kentucky can get in without winning the entire SEC Tournament, but one win wouldn’t hurt, which makes this interesting.

So, without further ado, here’s how each of the conference tournament’s involving local teams would look like as of today, February 25th:

Big East

SEC

Big Ten

Wacky Kentucky Wildcat fan dispises of Jeff Goodman. I can see where he would come off that way.

And why wouldn’t he? Bottom line: Writing about Kentucky basketball means clicks to his blog. It’s smart. First, check out what he’s written, and then read below.

I think the line from Jeff’s blog post that really irks UK fans (this time around) is: