I rail on ESPN quite a bit.  However, one thing I have always believed that they get right is their coverage of college sports.  They have the best pregame show in all of sports during the college football season with College Gameday.  Granted, I could do without Desmond Howard, but overall it is damn good.  ESPN does even better with their coverage of college basketball.  Unless you want to pick nits, they have great analysts and columnists working for them.   I like Jay Bilas, even though he is a Dukie.  Hubert Davis continues to improve each year.  Digger Phelps isn’t as good as he once was, but still better than anyone that gets trotted out during ESPNs NBA coverage.  Then you can throw in columnists Andy Katz, Dana O’Neil, and even Pat Forde (much better with basketball than football) and you have a good collection of talking heads providing great TV and content.

Andy Glockner used to work for ESPN, he is now with SI.  Sports Illustrated used to be the crowning jewel of sports commentary.  Now they have hired several writers that way below average when it comes to providing analysis and insight on sports.  They occasionally have columnist from newspapers write special features, and those guys are good. However, the guys that are on staff are very weak at what they are supposed to be good at.   Glockner has put together his field of 64 as of last night.  As much as we like to rag on Joe Lunardi at ESPN because he is a nerd, the guy does a great job at projecting the field.  He usually misses very little once the brackets come out on Selection Sunday.  However, Glockner is not very good at it.  Just take a look at some of his picks to make the tournament, and their projected seeds. Here are some that jumped out at us.

Duke as a 2 Seed: We hate Duke.  That is not something we shy away from.  However, Duke deserves a number 1 seed.  Though the ACC was not as strong as past seasons, Duke still was able to tie for the conference crown, and finish with a top 4 finish in the rankings, along with a RPI of 2 along with a SOS of 8.  Unless Glockner thinks they lose in the conference tourney today, there is no way Duke loses their #1 seed.

Texas and Michigan State as 6 Seeds: Texas beat Michigan State earlier in the year when they were playing like a Top 3 team.  Texas has since played like a team ranked closer to 40.  I know their RPI is 25, but a lot of that has to do with playing in the Big 12 and their early season success.  Yes it should be taken into account, but what they have done lately is more indicative of who they are this season.  Michigan State has been ranked in the Top 15 all year long.  Though they lost at Texas and at UNC(early in the year), the only time they had an extended losing streak was when Kalin Lucas was injured.  Since then, they managed to beat #5 Purdue on the road and lock up a share of the Big Ten Conference title. Nobody has Michigan State lower than a 4 seed besides Glockner, which they would secure if Minnesota beat them tonight, though Chris Allen is suspended.  If MSU runs the table to win the Conference Tourney, they will grab a 2 seed.

Wisconsin as a 3 seed: This would be fine if Michigan State wasn’t a 6 seed.  Wisconsin is good enough, but one cannot rationalize them being 3 seeds ahead of the Spartans when they split the season series, and Wisconsin finished behind MSU in the rankings, in the conference and loss to Gonzaga, a team Michigan State beat. Wisconsin also had a bad loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay (107 RPI)  They also suffered a loss to Minnesota in conference, a team that is still fighting to see another day.

Memphis making the tournament: I know Lunardi has them in as well…but just no.  You cannot be a team on the bubble and drop your conference tourney opener and expect to make it in.  They need a lot of help to get in, and they aren’t gonna get it.

Dave K

Dave K is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Victory Formation. He can be reached at dkippe@gmail.com

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