The issues I see:

• With out of conference scheduling for the big teams--there's much more to lose than to gain with scheduling superstar non-AQ schools, primarily because of that whole "the entire season is a playoff" argument. if one loss severely damages your NC hopes, why should Auburn bother taking on a TCU or Boise or Nevada when it could easily get the win playing a UL-Lafayette or Georgia Southern [i don't know each team's OOC schedule, i'm just speaking hypothetically] and still have the SOS covered with the conference? (not to mention, those massacres over the cupcakes adds more to the strength of the conference because more teams will have good records) 
• As for the money part, that's gonna take a massive hit anyway because the entire BCS (heck, all but 2 of all the bowl games) will be on the ESPN networks now (and none on ABC), which will damage ratings. 

I like the playoff idea because you get a better grouping of talent, and more of a "put up or shut up" idea (TCU/BSU/Nev can prove they're for real by running the playoff gauntlet, and the cupcake-heavy powerhouses will have to put up with a steady flow of tough games).
In an ideal world, I would drop OOC games entirely (except for rivalry games) and just have the schedule be a round robin within the conference, so that we won't really know which conference is better than another until the postseason. (conference championships would be abolished as well if everyone plays everyone once, but since there's an uneven grouping of conferences, that won't happen anytime soon)
Anyway, that's just my two cents.

The issues I see:

• With out of conference scheduling for the big teams--there's much more to lose than to gain with scheduling superstar non-AQ schools, primarily because of that whole "the entire season is a playoff" argument. if one loss severely damages your NC hopes, why should Auburn bother taking on a TCU or Boise or Nevada when it could easily get the win playing a UL-Lafayette or Georgia Southern [i don't know each team's OOC schedule, i'm just speaking hypothetically] and still have the SOS covered with the conference? (not to mention, those massacres over the cupcakes adds more to the strength of the conference because more teams will have good records) 
• As for the money part, that's gonna take a massive hit anyway because the entire BCS (heck, all but 2 of all the bowl games) will be on the ESPN networks now (and none on ABC), which will damage ratings. 

I like the playoff idea because you get a better grouping of talent, and more of a "put up or shut up" idea (TCU/BSU/Nev can prove they're for real by running the playoff gauntlet, and the cupcake-heavy powerhouses will have to put up with a steady flow of tough games).


In an ideal world, I would drop OOC games entirely (except for rivalry games) and just have the schedule be a round robin within the conference, so that we won't really know which conference is better than another until the postseason. (conference championships would be abolished as well if everyone plays everyone once, but since there's an uneven grouping of conferences, that won't happen anytime soon)



Anyway, that's just my two cents.

Get ready for one of the lowest scoring final fours in a long time. Butler vs Michigan State, and Duke vs West Virginia. 
The 78 points Duke scored against Baylor were the highest they had in this tournament, and 2nd highest among the remaining teams, behind the 85 scored by Michigan State. Speaking of that, after the 85-83 win over Maryland, MSU's highest point total was 70. Butler scored 77 in round one, and never passed 63 afterward.
Duke scored the most points combined of the 4 teams, yet none combined for 300 yet. (289-287-284-257. Thanks for low scores butler!)
Average score: 69.8 to 59.6. First one to 70 wins? or first to 60?
Apparently, the line for the Duke-WVU game is 131. Duke averaged 72.25 points this tourney, WVU averaged 71.25. I'll take the over then by that measure (Don't gamble though)
The Line for the MSU-Butler game is 126. MSU averaged 71 PPG (66.3 without the 85 skew), Butler, 64.25 (60 without the 77 skew). I'd stay away (or take the under, but again, save your money, don't gamble)

It starts off with what I call "The Big 6" because every recruiting site I looked at, these 6 players were ranked at the top 6 in some order*:

1. O.J. Mayo--Eventually became a top 5 pick for the Wolves and traded for...
2. Kevin Love--Also a Top 5 pick, was a Grizzly, but traded for Mayo in that draft
3. Eric Gordon--Top 10 pick and a rare good Clipper
4. Michael Beasley--a world of talent, and even more issues (*and ESPN ranked him 8th, the only time one of the Big 6 wasn't ranked there
5. Derrick Rose--1st pick for the Bulls, and looks like a superstar in training
6. Kyle Singler--Only one not yet in the NBA, and probably will be the lowest drafted of the Big 6

The second tier is more raw and untapped as the Big 6, but has so much upside: 7. Nick Calathes--Ok, Mulligan, not that he sucked in Florida that badly though, and our first 2nd round pick 8. Donte Greene--He's starting to tap into his potential in the Kings, Also a first rounder 9. J.J. Hickson--Like Greene, Starting to tap into his potential, but this time, LeBron and Shaq are tutoring him instead of Jason Thompson 10. Patrick Patterson--Not yet in the NBA, but made great strides over his kentucky years. 11. Kosta Koufos--He went in the first round, and there may be some hope yet. 12. Austin Freeman--Great junior year in Georgetown this year, despite their early exit from the tournament 13. DeAndre Jordan--Was projected as a top 20 talent, went 35th to the Clippers, and is doing pretty well as Chris Kaman's backup. 14. Bill Walker--2nd rounder that was traded to the knicks this year, it seems like he's starting to tap into his potential since being a knick (doesn't mean he'll stay.
The Third Tier is much better than the 2nd tier right now, despite it being only four players: 15. Jerryd Bayless--first rounder from the Pacers, traded to the Blazers, and is starting to flash his potential. 16. Blake Griffin--first overall pick by the clippers who was super dominant in Oklahoma, before busting his knee 17. Anthony Randolph--first rounder by the Warriors, Raw yet still showing his gamebreaking potential, despite the way the Warriors are handling him. (Random tangent. Randolph and Greene were born in West Germany) 18. James Harden--3rd overall pick for that oklahoma team. Doing very well coming off the bench for a playoff team.
Tiers 4-i have no idea later

This is what i learned tournament told me at least, as we head into the final four (Aside from how to spell Farokhmanesh and who is Omar Samhan): 

1.  Age trumps talent. Starting lineup summary for the 6 remaining teams: West Virginia has one freshman in their starting rotation (Kevin Jones), Butler uses none, Duke sparingly uses two freshman (Mason Plumlee and Andre Dawkins), Baylor spares on (Dennis), Tennessee spares one (Kenny Hall), and Michigan State spares Nix and Sims. When I say spares, I mean around 7-10 minutes a game

2.  As most experts kinda saw coming: the seeding sucked this year. Let's name examples by listing some choice teams by their end of reg-season ranking by the AP (March 15) and their seeding in this tournament:

·     #11 Butler--5th seeded in the West bracket (Come on, that's 3-seed territory, and Butler was on a hot streak before the tourney)

·     #13 Michigan State--again, 5th seeded in the Midwest Bracket (4 seed territory, and MSU is in the Big Ten, so even less of an excuse)

·     #15 Tennessee--6th seeded in the Midwest Region (Again, 4-seed territory, Beat Kentucky and Kansas along the way.)

·     And the exception: #19 Baylor—3rd seeded in the South Region (that’s 5 seed territory…closest we have to Cinderella) [Duke is 3rd and WVU is 6th, and got good rankings]

3.     Coaching makes a bigger impact here than the player—regarded as the best players in this tournament:

·          John Wall, Kentucky PG

·          Evan Turner, Ohio State Every position

·          DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky C

·          Wesley Johnson, Syracuse SF

·          Sherron Collins, Kansas SG

·          Literally every other Kansas and Kentucky player.

Considered the best coaches in this tournament:

·          Tom Izzo, Michigan State

·          Mike Krzyzewski, Duke

·          Bob Huggins, WVU

·          Umm, John Calipari, Kentucky

·          Bill Self, Kansas

·          Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

·          (To some extent) Bruce Pearl, Tennessee

4.     I love the 2007 recruiting class:

·          Derrick Rose

·          Michael Beasley

·          Kevin Love

·          O.J. Mayo

·          Eric Gordon

·          Kyle Singler

·          Lacedarius Dunn

·          James Anderson

·          Nolan Smith

·          Cole Aldrich

·          Kalin Lucas

·          Patrick Patterson, etc (Blake Griffin, and many others)

5.     This is a great tournament, and I think the winner will be the best defensive team of the ones left (by that account, Michigan State over West Virginia, 69-63)

What i'm doing here is that I am going to make a coaching staff for a fantasy team, but with a couple of rules:

1. Can't have an NFL Head Coach on the staff
2. Retired Players are allowed

without further ado, here is my staff:

Head Coach: Josh McDaniels-   New England Offensive Coordinator

Let's start with the man on top, with the 32 year old OC for the 7-5 with a 9-year backup QB and nonexistent RB Patriots. What better way to see how good McDaniels is by comparing New England's YPG and its ranking in the NFL between his era (2006-now) and the Charlie Weis era ('01-'04), shall we?

Patriots Offensive YPG (Rank)
2001: 305.1  (19th)
2002: 317.8 (21st)
2003: 314.9 (17th)
2004: 357.6 (7th)
^2005: 352.0 (7th)
2006: 335.6 (11th)
2007: 411.2 (1st)
*2008: 355.1 (9th)

^no OC
*as of 12/4/08

This chart shows that aside from 2004 (Weis' final year in NE), Weis has been average, at best. McDaniels' worst is still top 12, or playoff team good. Add that to the fact that he's 32, and I found a head coach that could have a tenure as long as Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno.

Other Choices:

Tom Moore- Indianapolis Colts Offensive Coordinator-A great coordinator and helped Peyton Manning become the Peyton Manning we know and love. If only he wasn't 342 years old......

Monte Kiffin- Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator-Same issue as Moore (Older than the cumulative age of the House of Representatives), and seems happier as a DC (might wind up as DC for Lane's Volunteers), but the creator of the famous Tampa 2 defense has to warrant consideration for a head coaching gig.

Rick Dennison- Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator/O-line Coach- Since 1995 (when he was hired) I think the Broncos did a good job running the ball (Reuben Droughns, Olandis Gary, Peyton Hillis, Quentin Griffin, Garrison Hearst, a runner with the last name of Bell, Garrison Hearst, and actually good runningbacks like Clinton Portis and Terrell Davis; 5 stars if you know who Quentin Griffin was) and this year, the Broncos are 2nd in YPG. He's younger than Moore and Kiffin, but I just think they are a bit better at their job.


Tomorrow: part 2: Offensive Coordinator and Defensive Coordinator

 

The tyrants of terrible, the sultans of suck, the epitome of incompetence, The famous, infamous Pittsburgh Pirates! Because the Rays are playing in the World Series this year, the Pirates are now the worst team in the whole decade! They now have a decent farm system, with Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Steven Pearce, Daniel Moskos, Pedro Alvarez and Über-prospect Andrew McClutchen. It will be a few years, but this is what they have to do in order to fix it (in 3 steps, of course;)

1. Those guys I mentioned above? Keep them for life: McClutchen is a superstar waiting to happen, Walker, Alvarez, and Pearce are Starters in training, and Moskos could be in the rotation now, if only because the starters they have now are really bad, except...

2. Paul Malholm, so keep him: He could be their ace until they really get one (draft maybe? lord knows they ain't paying for one), the only problem is that that will take years to complete, since Malholm is not ace material.

3. NO MORE FIRE SALES OR TRADING!!! How many trades in the past 3 years have the Pirates turned out clear winners?
(Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady, who was eventually traded with Damaso Marte for Tabata and Ross Ohlendorf, trading for Matt Morris, who was bought out a year later). If they trade, it either has to be for prospects (doing a hit/miss job so far) or getting rid of old, bad players (None yet, so good job).
Just keep the players Evan Longoria style, and the team would be contending in 2-3 years!

The highly-anticipated debut of Derrick Rose was yesterday, and he did not disappoint, almost getting a double-double with 11 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and as many turnovers in 32 minutes, while Kirk Hinrich had 15 points, 7 assists, and 2 rebounds in 26 minutes. But what I found weird was this: this is the second time a highly touted draft pick played the same position on the same team with a player who recently signed a fat contract. Hopefully, the Point Guard platoon works as well as Reggie Bush (#2 to the Saints) and Deuce McAllister (7? year deal before the pick) did, as they helped the Saints to the playoffs. Another funny thing is that a new head coach represented the team that year (Is Vinny del Negro as good as Sean Payton?) But the main difference was who they signed in the offseason: Drew Brees, one of the front-runners for NFL MVP, compared to the Bulls' squat, which is expected to do nothing this year.

But the fun thing is this: the Saints had a winning percentage of .625 and made it to the conference championships in '06 (the year in comparison) with that percentage: the Bulls would be 51-31 and would probably start the playoffs at home.

Think that 51 wins is going to happen this year?