University of Indiana Freshen, Cody Zeller

The storied program at the University of Indiana has gone through a rough decade since Bobby Knight left, but it appears to be reemerging.

I am convinced with this team, but not all fans and pundits are. They are lead by Tom Crean, who spent the past 4 seasons, since taking the throne at Indiana, to rebuild it back to what it once was.

Indiana has a 15-1 record, with its only loss was at Michigan State. That’s part of the problem though. They have played only four games outside of Assembly Hall (Evansville, NC State, Michigan St Penn St).

Indiana is now in Big 10 play, the conference pundits say is the toughest conference this season, per conference RPI rankings. Indiana is currently ranked 5th in the RPI. KenProm.com has them ranked 8th.

I been sold on this team since they beat Kentucky mid-December, but there is still a reason to be optimistic. March is still a long ways away.

There is still room on the bandwagon, and expect more to hop on win after win. The next ranked team they face on the road is on January 15 when they visit #6 Ohio St and January 26 at #16 Wisconsin. Guaranteed more will join the bandwagon with wins.

* All rankings, and records as of January 8 night.

In 2000, the NBA implemented a rule saying anyone who enters the draft must be at least 19 years old, making it so most players will spend at least one year in college.Ideally, players should spend all four years in college to get their degree before playing professional. Like anything else in life, nothing is perfect.

Players who go to the NBA should be fully ready & already developed. The NBA is not for training, like it has become the past 15 years. There are few Garnetts, Bryants & LeBrons, but many think they are. It is not in the benefit to the player nor the NBA.

Everyone wants to put blame on the NBA, who does have a responsibility in this. The NCAA also has a responsibility in this as well.

Here is my idea for players to enter the draft:

NBA

• Require players to be at least 19 years of age.
• Form camp(s), like they do for prospective draftees, but for college players who completed freshmen, sophomore & junior years for exposure, and feedback purposes. This should be done after the draft.

NCAA

• Require players to spend at least 3 years in college, regardless of age.
• Allow players to attend NBA camps.

Of course, the math above does not make sense, after 3-4 years, the player will be over 19. When a player finishes high school, they can play in college for 3-4 years. The other option is to go to the development league or Europe. After a year, they can become eligible for the NBA draft. Theoretically, most of these players will go to college, mainly for exposure. Plus, players in Europe & Asia have different systems for education, player development, and professional status.

Some schools, such as VCU & Butler, have benefited from players staying 3-4 years. They form a nucleus. Plus, the NBA will get players more polished & more prepared to play at a top-level, thus forming a better product on the professional level.

Photo credit: Andersedin | CC BY 2.0

The Orangemen missed injured Center, Arinze Onuaku, for inside scoring, even though they out rebounded the Bulldogs 33-27. The 5-0 run and turnovers (Syracuse 18 - Butler 7) were the major factors in the loss. The more experienced Syracuse team couldn't hold things together, even with a 4 point lead with five and a half to go, giving the Bulldogs their first Elite 8 appearance.

It's going to be another year before I get excited for Syracuse again, hopefully we'll pull some good recruits and give ourselves some reasons to get pumped along the way to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Let's start the cheering for Saint Mary's and Northern Iowa. Underdogs on the loose.

Thanks to daversa for the picture of Andy Rautins.

Midwest Bracket

West Bracket

East Bracket

South Bracket

The Final Four

The picture at the top of the post says it all, let's go 'Cuse, holla!

As it stands right now, the NCAA tournament starts with 65 teams. It's hard to explain in words how the tournament begins with 65 teams, but there is basically a one game playoff between the two final teams selected (known as the play in game) that decides what 64 teams are going to fill in the four 16 team divisional brackets.

Recent talks have brought up the idea of making a 97 team tournament and basically dropping the NIT, the Not In Tournament. The NIT was made up for remaining teams that didn't make the National Tournament to still have a reason to play in their own, not so great, tournament in March. Thus having no dignity but still feeling respected. Good luck in the NIT this year UNC, sorry Adam.

Tell Us What You Think

After you vote, please give us your thoughts on why the NCAA should or should not expand the tournament to 97 teams in the comments section below. Your input is greatly appreciated and also good for debate.

Thanks to mnapoleon for the picture of Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick.

This season, Jim Boeheim recorded his 800th career win with Syracuse and continued to dominate with his 2-3 zone defense and a very young roster. Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku are the only seniors on the team this season. The 'Cuse is 24-1 (11-1 in the Big East) and hasn't lost since Pitt beat them on January 2.

The Extremely Large East

The Big East has 5 Teams ranked in the AP top 25 this season (Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, West Virginia and Pitt). The Big East also has some contenders for the tournament (Marquette, Louisville and UConn). With 8 teams from one conference all having a shot to make a run in the tournament, how can the Big East not be thought of as one of, if not, the best college basketball conference.

Get excited, because the 'Cuse is going to make a statement in the tournament this season. Enjoy the NIT North Carolina, this is the year of the Orangemen.

Thanks to Kevan Emmott for the picture of Gerry MacNamara from the last time Syracuse won a National Championship.

Breakthrough Athlete

Matt Ryan, rookie quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons received the ESPY for breakthrough athlete. Matt Ryan was drafted in 2009 after leaving Boston College early to start his professional career. Ryan gave Boston College a few great seasons and a boost in recruiting during and especially after his tenure with the Golden Eagles. Ryan threw a 62-yard touchdown with his first professional pass attempt and led the Falcons to the playoffs last season. Congratulations Matt Ryan, you deserve the accolades and we in Boston appreciate what you've done for us and appreciate you even more for being in the NFC.

Olympic Heroes

As if it weren't enough for Michael Phelps to win a record 8 gold medals while swimming for the USA at the Olympics, Phelps walked away with 5 ESPY awards on top of that. Phelps was in two categories with Kobe Bryant, one being best male athlete, and topped him in both categories. Both times that Michael was at the podium, you could sense the nervousness about possibly saying the wrong thing while he was giving thanks for the awards. Phelps was also able to praise Kobe while he accepted the award for best male athlete, in a way letting Kobe know that he is a phenomenal athlete and deserved credit for everything he had done with the Lakers last season.

Phelps was not the only Olympian to walk away with an ESPY award as gymnasts, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin won ESPY's for their Olympic games as well. The USA Soccer team also received the trophy for their performance against Spain in the Confederation Cup Finals. Landon Donovan accepted the award for the USA soccer team and oddly enough did not mention David Beckham (the a-hole, as Donovan stated previously) while thanking everyone for the award.

Best Game

Super Bowl XLIII won the ward for Best Game and an entourage of Pittsburgh Steelers walked to the podium led by Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes. Holmes was the first to speak to the fans and thanks his teammates, the organization and the fans. In the back of my mind I was thinking, who is going to have enough class to mention the fact that they couldn't have won the award for best game if it weren't for the opposing Arizona Cardinals. Ben Roethlisberger then gave me new found respect for him as a man as opposed to as an athlete. Ben came to the microphone and made the statement I was waiting to hear. Roethlisberger said that the Arizona Cardinals deserved credit for the award as well for playing such an amazing game in the season finale, giving Kurt Warner and myself a reason to smile and appreciate Ben as an athlete and a stand up guy. He may have earned more respect from me in that manner, but rest assure he will be blasted once the playoffs roll around next season and the Steelers come to visit the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

Jimmy V Award For Perseverance

Northern State University basketball coach, Don Meyer received the Jimmy V Award. Don Meyer was in a car accident that caused him to lose his left leg from the severity of the crash. Meyer was rushed to the hospital after the accident and received even worse news that he had cancer in his liver as well as other areas in his stomach. Don Meyer spoke for about five minutes and I listened to every word that came out of his mouth. After his accident and diagnosis, Mayer returned to NSU to coach in his wheelchair and was not only an inspiration, but a winner. Meyer's story and speech was so amazing and heart wrenching, everyone should take time to listen to it. Thank you for you inspiration Don Meyer:

I'd like to now take this time to offer you the chance to donate to The V Foundation for Cancer Research. I am in no way affiliated with the foundation and am not doing this for any personal gain. Cancer has touched many people in my family and cancer research is something that I would love to help provide for. As the saying goes, anything helps. Even if each reader donates a dollar or less, it's that much more money that will go toward fighting cancer. If you can't donate, do not feel bad about it, making you aware is just the first step. Thank you.

Thanks to beedubz for the picture at the ESPY Awards.

The game started out awful! UNC took a 12-point lead to open the game with MSU forcing 2 of their 21 total turnovers of the game. I continued to watch and look at the clock at the same time and realized that about five minutes before the sportsfangirl's favorite show starts, the Tarheels were up by twenty. Shortly after realizing the inevitable fate that MSU most likely would not have any chance at coming back against the #1 team in the NCAA.

With UNC putting both Hansbrough and Lawson on the bench to rest with about four minutes left in the first half, Heidi showed up at Lauren's birthday party and you wouldn't believe what happened. The drama continued when Spencer's sister told Heidi that her future husband was hitting on some bartender, then all hell broke loose on the boat. By the time Heidi and Lauren stopped crying, it was halftime.

At the half, the sportsfangirl and I went back and forth about our picks for the game, how fouling effects the player and the team, and how much of a d-bag Spencer is. We also had some drinks and snacks!

After the half, UNC showed that they were the better team, they were not going to lose this time. With Lawson at the line for free throws, Heidi up and left for Colorado. I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry, instead, I kept flicking back and forth to jumble together two of the worst things I saw on TV all day (after of course the Sox game being rained out).

In the end, North Carolina held on to their double digit lead (as Matt said they would), Michigan State gave up with about two minutes left in the game while the UNC freshman tried to run up and down the court like jerks (excited jerks though), Heidi and Lauren cried some more and I went to bed.

There were no parties in Detroit, no silver lining, no saving grace, but the fact that Michigan State made it there may have been enough. The way the Spartans gracefully gave their interviews shows the character of the city (but not the effort when you should be fouling until the last second in the Championship game!). All in all, I may have been wrong, but I would still make the same pick if they played again tomorrow. I guess I'm a sucker for that feel good story after all.

Guards

Michigan State

Durrell Summers and Chris Allen are both averaging 8.5 PPG and around 1 assist each. They also are both around the 30% range when it comes to 3-point FG's. As starting guards, this is not going to be nearly enough to put away UNC in the National Championship game. If Summers and Allen don't have breakthrough games, they just aren't going to get it done against a high scoring Tarheels team. Running a three guard offense, the biggest name on the court for Michigan State is Kalin Lucas. Lucas is just a cut above Summers and Allen, averaging about 15 points and 5 assists per game.

North Carolina

Ty Lawson is obviously known as one of the fastest and most talented guards in the college rankings today and surpasses both of the Spartans guards statistically by himself. On top of that, his counter-part Wayne Ellington also matches the two Spartan guards in points and assists on his own. With their fast paced, high scoring abilities, Michigan State can either hope to keep up, try to slow it down or just hope for both Lawson and Ellington to have an off day (which is highly unlikely with the nature of the game at hand).

Advantage:

The advantage at guard goes to UNC. Although the Spartans have three guards, totaling up points and assists based on averages, the Tarheel guards surpass the Spartans in both categories playing with a natural two guard set. The advantage also goes to the Tarheels by matching their opponent in that sense and also causing mismatches down low for Tyler Hansbrough at the forward position.

Forwards

Michigan State

Running their three guard set leaves Raymar Morgan at the forward position by himself in this matchup perspective. Morgan is averaging 10 points and 6 boards a game. Again, Michigan State will be in a lot of trouble if they can not control the tempo of the game and match UNC point for point in possesions early.

North Carolina

North Carolina will have Danny Green and Deon Thompson starting at forward for the game. Although Tyler Hansbrough is listed as a forward on the roster, he is playing the #5 spot on the floor and will control the paint. Green and Thompson are matched up almost equally to Raymar Morgan on the other side of the floor, but two big men are better than one when it comes to boxing out and rebounding for possesions.

Advantage:

Again, I'm going to have to go with UNC for the advantage here due to a two to one matchup at the position and the equality in the numbers produced by both teams.

Center

Michigan State

Goran Suton is averaging about 10 points and 9 rebounds a game. For a starting center matching up against a player of the year candidate he's going to have to double his rebounding average at least to give his team a chance to win this game.

North Carolina

Tyler Hansbrough, the best big man left in the tournament (after Blake Griffin and the Sooners were eliminated) is only going to have one job during this game, continue to do what he has done all season, averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds a game will only need to be consistent.

Advantage:

A no brainer gives the advantage to UNC and Hansbrough and makes it a clean sweep for UNC to control the advantage on every inch of the floor for this game.

Prediction

UNC has the advantage at every position on the Court, however, I'm going to stay with Michigan State to win the game solely based on emotion and heart. I know UNC beat Michigan State by 35 earlier this season, I know they are trying to recover from losing in the tournament last year, but as I stated last week, this game belongs to the Spartans. With Detroit in such turmoil and the Spartans playing in front of their home crowd fans, anything can happen.

Prepare for a game that is going to come down to the wire and be won with true grit and determination. UNC will take the last shot from just inside half court and Ty Lawson is going to see his childhood dream come to an end in a sad way. Rooting for the comeback of an entire city in distress, the Spartans are going to give the people of Detroit one night to stand up, be proud and get excited for themselves in a tough time.

First tip at 6:07 pm has Michigan State playing a home game against UConn and Hasheem Thabeet. This looks to be an extreme mismatch and I as well as others have UConn going on to the Big Dance.

Shutting Detroit Down

With all the struggles in the economy and especially in the car industry in Detroit, I can see MSU pulling off the big upset based on past experiences in the sports world. In 2002 after September 11, the New England Patriots won Superbowl XXXVI against the Carolina Panthers as underdogs leading to Bob Kraft coming out claiming, "Today, we are all Patriots!". Again, in 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans hard, giving the Saints that emotional boost to make it deep in the NFC playoffs when they were playing for more than just a trophy, they were playing for an entire state that had been left in ruins. The Saints were playing for the fans that had spent sleepless nights in their old stadium while their homes had been demolished. This year, that same emotional power has been flowing through the MSU locker room, making them an attraction for the people of Detroit and giving them a glimmer of hope and a championship run to forget about the woes of financial discomfort.

Everyone may feel that UConn is a Goliath compared to Michigan State, but David has reared his face through adversity one too many times in similar situations. I can only hope for the people of Detroit that not only does MSU make it to the final game, but that the play of the Spartans gives them hope for a better day. Winning a championship might bring more immediate happiness to the people than an intangible economic bailout from President Obama.

Achilles 'Heels

8:47 marks the tip time for UNC and Villanova. Ty Lawson has had an incredible tournament showing after missing the Tarheels first round game against Radford with a sprained toe. In the last game against those heart-breaking Sooners, Lawson posted 19 points and 5 Assists to help move his team on.

What people didn't forsee was the other Ty of UNC, Tyler Hansbrough (8 points, 6 boards) getting completely shut down by Blake Griffin and the Sooner defense. That shows a lot about both Hansbrough and Griffin (23 points, 16 boards, who now faces the decision of whether to return for his junior season or declare eligible for next years NBA draft). Blake Griffin is already being compared to Lebron James on sports shows and Tyler Hansbrough showed that he will most deffinitely struggle at the next level against NBA athletes that are just much better than he is.

Tyler Hansbrough however is not at the next level yet. Against a four guard set that Nova has put on the court all year, how can they stop the big man. He may struggle against Lebron, Kobe and KG, but Hansbrough will no doubt put the ball down hard in Detroit in the semi-finals. With Ty Lawson controlling the tempo and Hansbrough practically unguarded down low, I don't see Villanova hanging around after Saturday night.

The Big Dance

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for. Obviously UNC is my pick for one team in the game, but being on the fence for the first game, I'm going to go upset city and take emotion and hope to the championship game and ride Sparty to push past what was called the #2 team back in October (UNC was ranked #1 at the time) to set up the end of the road.

Check back next week for the National Championship pick. The sportsfangirl however, not so patient asked that it be known that she chose UNC to win it all.