CaribbeanGreen

yep. good stuff, Emmitt. Basically, we have to play like there's nothing to lose (there's not), and hope the shots fall and we play enough defense they have an off night. It's a long shot, but stranger things have happened! GMG!

No reaction shots as we'd heard all week (though they had probably 20 other schools), and the CIRCLE STAR LOGO. Just great. Oh well. I wish it had been TAMU, but BEAT MEMPHIS! (maybe?) (on a side note, was anyone else nervous when they saw Jackson St. as a solid 16?? I hadn't seen Niagara in the play-in anywhere..)

8 to 10 years ago Plano was really good. Just a couple years ago, they had an 0-10 season. That'll do it.

And there's your key. Sure, when you have a tradition like Permian or Lee or Brownwood, and that's how the town basically defines itself and that's what they've got, you'll have that situation. But go across the very same town to Midland High or Odessa High and it's not HALF what the big school is (yes, i know that's flipped a little lately, but you get what i'm saying, right?). Check out small towns all OVER the plains to the panhandle without winning teams or much tradition, and you'll find crowds no better than any in the "big cities" -- even when it's the only show in town. When "city" schools are winning, have a few straight years of good teams, etc -- they pack their stadiums just like they do out west. SLC-Trinity set records - but if you say "well, don't count SLC, Trinity, Plano, etc" then I would say "don't count Permian, Lee, Brownwood, etc".. what do we have then? When I went to HS (Lake Highlands) we didn't lose a home game in my entire 4 years, went to the state semifinals three times - every game was SRO, and they added temporary seating when Plano or someone like that came in. Now, they're not that good, and I doubt it's the same - though I know they still draw well. The only difference I see is the abundance of competing entertainment options in the big cities, which makes their attendance really all the more impressive. Show me 10 schools out west that fill their stadiums every Friday night, and I'll show you 50 in D/FW, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio that do the exact same thing. I bet they all have one of two things in common - BIG tradition, or winning. Often both. It a nutshell, my argument is this -- win. win. win. Period. It fixes everything, it builds tradition, it fills the seats. If that doesn't work, you can always put up some more posters.

Yeah, and did you see DelSt squeak by a team with a losing record in OT in their semis?

Let's hope Delaware St. falters along the way... that happens, I think we can REALLY breathe easy.

Okay.. looking at Central Connecticut, they are 21-11, 16-2 in conference. They started 5-10... they have losses to Harvard, St. Bonaventure, Lehigh, Lasalle, Robert Morris, Eastern Michigan, and Fairleigh Dickinson, in addition to more respectable losses to Michigan, Vermont, Davidson (by almost 30, though) and UMass. Their BEST wins, by far, are two over Sacred Heart - who they play again tonight in the Northeast title game. Sac Heart is 18-13 overall, 12-6 NEC. There are two other teams with .500 or better records overall in the NEC, Sac Heart and Robert Morris, who CCSU lost to. As far as I can tell, they have three non-conference wins... Delaware, New Hampshire, and Marlyand-Baltimore County. But the BIGGEST thing in our favor?? They have two schools in their conference named St. Francis. Surely, that instability vaults us past them.

As of this moment Sportsline.com has us as the 3rd 16 seed - meaning no play in game, and they have the play in as Central Conn. vs. Miss Valley St. ESPN, however, has us in the play-in vs. MVSU, and Central Conn. as the 3rd 16 seed. Looks like it may be between us and CC.

How about we just all say we're thrilled with this season and this situation and we hope to high heck we can pull this off tomorrow. These are good, good times to be a Mean Green fan, an alum, a student, whatever. We're all on the same team. Let's just be happy and support these guys. Win or lose, I'm pretty damn proud right now.

w...h...a....t? Go Hogs, man. Go Hogs.

I think it was the two "well Scottie said!!!" moments within 2 posts that irritated me. You know, in the same way sheep skin can. What's next, Quoner? AIDS? Columbine? Al Qaeda?

Oh, and if we win tomorrow, and then lose a 2-15 game by 30 points, I'll still be happy as a pig in s. We're forty minutes away from the big-freakin-dance. Do you realize your brackets could actually say "NORTH TEXAS" on them?? Do you realize we had basketball highlights (complete with new logos, i might add) on at LEAST 3 times so far on ESPN? Do you realize we'll be on a nationally televised championship game on ESPN2 tomorrow night?? Yeah. I'm not too concerned about Jarhaven Christian School for the Blind and Narcoleptic. This is FUN. This is GOOD.

Oh, the same Scottie who suggested that instead of going to a NT home game this year, we stay home and watch TAMU-Kansas on TV for some real bball? Okay. Next. As much as the 5-posts-a-day board is good for laughs, keep that stuff over there. This is the best BBall moment we've had in about 20 years. Period. No debates. Enjoy it. Smile, will ya?

.....

oh, thank the lord....

Did Watson just miss 3 out of 4 FTs and then FOUL A MTSU PLAYER WHILE HE WAS SHOOTING?!?

that wasn't exactly clutch free throw shooting from Watson.... think we're still all set, though.

His stomach had better be actually hanging outside of his body. Seriously.

Obviously a lot can change, but I'm thinking Ohio State, Carolina, UCLA are essential locks, and Wisconsin, Florida, and Memphis would all currently slot ahead of the Ags. Seems to me a lot of dominoes would have to fall in the right places for a TAMU 1 seed. Anyone else see less power in the power conferences this year? We're gonna have some mid-majors wreaking havoc. Oh yeah, and mark it down now... my brackets are gonna suck.

Not remotely saying it should be us, not jinxing a thing. I'm just pointing out that based on the projections I've seen, the SBC champ will probably stand a good chance at getting a #15 seed, considering we WILL be sending a team with double digit losses to the big dance and have a lousy RPI. Just mentioning that one team I've seen projected as a #2 in every bracket so far -- Texas A&M. Just a fun note to play with. Nothing more, nothing less.

MTSU is a few games below .500... they're probably better than that, and I know they've played better as of late... but at this point, no excuses. You handle an under-500 #9 seed in the conference semifinals or else you don't deserve it. It's business at this point. Let's take care of it.

You want to talk about collapses of epic proportions.... how about the end of USA's season?!? This is shaping up nicely. Just gotta go get it for once...

60-57 MTSU, 11 sec. to go.

Might want to tap the brakes on that one... until we can wrestle away the fact that FAU is undefeated against us, anyway. The Florida schools will be anything BUT the Belt's problem long term. Bank on it.

I could say that was pathetic, but that wouldn't be fair to pathetic.