In Threes?

The Louisville women's team continued their remarkable run, coming from 10 down at halftime to beat Cal and advance to only their second all-time championship game appearance.

The Clippers won their division, sweeping the Lakers on the season.

What's the third sign of the Apocalypse?

Shocked to Victory

About midway through the 2nd half, it looked like Wichita State had Louisville's number.  But then one of those strange moments happened.  A walk-on, Tim Henderson, came off Louisville's bench and scored most of his points -- for the season.  Henderson had something like 20 points all year, and then scored the two biggest three-pointers of his career in a matter of moments.

And in a nutshell, results like Henderson's are what makes college sports special.  A seldom used walk-on may turn out to be Louisville's hero if they go on to win it all on Monday night.  Because without Henderson's timely, unexpected baskets, Louisville was on its way out.  Hollywood won't write scripts like that because it's too cheesy. Not even for a Disney after school movie. Henderson's antics could only happen in the real world.

So Louisville moves on to face Michigan.  The big question mark is, will the Cardinals be able to hang with Michigan, without Kevin Ware to spell the foul-prone Siva and Smith.  Also, having that one taller guard to throw into the mix defensively in Ware will be lacking for the Cardinals.

I'm just glad we don't have to watch Syracuse and Louisville play again.

Worms Gone...

Most of the worms are now gone from Rutgers.  Only the Head Worm remains.  No one knows for sure if the Head Worm saw the video for the first time months ago or only a few days ago.  All we know is the Head Worm continues to hang on at Rutgers so the cleanup isn't quite complete.

I wonder if Pernetti will vanish from the scene or re-surface somewhere else?  Shady seems an apt description of Pernetti, and there's always room for more shady characters in college sports.  Maybe UCONN could hire him to help get them into a major conference like he did for the Scarlet Knights.

The Good News For the NCAA...

Ed Rush, Sean Miller, Mike Rice, Tim Pernetti, Arizona, Rutgers, and Auburn.

All will fade to a shadowy memory in the glow of this weekend's Final Four.

Auburn's Misdeeds...

Auburn paid players?
Auburn fixed grades?

Say it isn't so!

Grade fixing seems to have taken a backseat to other forms of violations in recent years.  But I expect it to make a big comeback, and soon.  Why?  Because of UCONN.

What does UCONN, a basketball team in the defunct Big East, have to do with Auburn football?

UCONN was the test case.  Everyone else was watching while UCONN missed the NCAA's academic targets.  And boy, did the NCAA strike back.  UCONN is currently serving out a post-season ban, and everyone else took note of the Huskies' fate.

What's the best way to avoid a post-season ban for lack of academic progress?  Why, to make academic progress, of course.

But just like with "No child left behind", sometimes the problem isn't the fault of the University or Professors. Sometimes the students, bless them, aren't willing or capable of learning the material.  But the Bowls must go on.  So the players must pass.

Or as Colonel Jessup once said, "you can have all the transfer orders you want."

What incentive does a school like Auburn have to NOT fix grades?

If Auburn doesn't fix grades and their players flunk, the NCAA will ban Auburn from Bowls.

If Auburn fixes grades and the NCAA catches them, the NCAA will penalize Auburn -- maybe banning them from Bowls.

If Auburn fixes grades and doesn't get caught, Auburn will go to Bowls.

Almost every logical scenario of grade fixing works out in Auburn's favor, or at worse, a wash with non-grade fixing.

For Auburn, it doesn't make sense to post honest grades.  It's not good business.

The NCAA is liable to come down harder on Auburn for proven allegations of paying players.  Other than point-shaving, nothing sets the NCAA investigators into a tizzy quicker than players making money.  It's the greatest threat to the organization's well-being.  If enough players get paid, it might start to look like "student-athletes" are really labor.  And the idea of making FICA payments for "student-athletes" probably wakes Mark Emmert up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

I expect Auburn to get heavily penalize, but not for the grade fixing.  If you want to see the real bite, follow the money trail.

Ultimatums On Campus...

The AP story headline reads: "UNM gives Alford until April 29 to pay $1M buyout."

Does anyone ever stop for a minute and think, "What does any of this have to do with educating young people?"

I guess New Mexico will be able to grow their Geology department after Alford pays up!

Out With the Old...

So long, Mike Rice.

I wish I could have listened in to Mike Rice's exit interview.  Since I couldn't, I prefer to imagine it going something like this:

"Tim, what's up?"

"I'm sorry, Mike, but I have to let you go."

"What? Why?"
"Come on, Mike.  You know.  The video."

"Yeah but so what?  I thought we resolved all that?"

"That was before it showed up on SportsCenter."

"Oh."

What else could Rutgers A.D. Tim Pernetti say?  Clearly, if ESPN hadn't broadcast Rice's "antics", the coach's job would be secure today.  Instead, the video was seen in several million homes, making us all reminisce over the Bob Knight-Neil Reed video. And everyone concluded Rice was much, much worse.

What choice did Pernetti have?  He had to fire Rice, and fire him quickly, because he's square in the cross hairs himself.

The moral to the story is, Rice was fired not for what he did, but because what he did was leaked on television and all over the internet.

In With the New.

Welcome aboard, Tubby and Pitino Jr.!

I'm not sure what to make of these hires.  What does Texas Tech want with Tubby?  Smith was just North of mediocre in his tenure at Minnesota.  Now he's supposed to turn Texas Tech around?  Good luck with that.  If they just want a nice guy who won't get into any trouble with the NCAA, it's a big win for the Red Raiders.

As for Minnesota, I really don't know what they're doing.  Pitino Jr. hasn't proven much.  Yes, he did turn around Florida International, but it's not like he made it to the Sweet 16.  Maybe Pitino Jr. will turn out as the second coming of Pitino Sr. and the Gophers are banking on that.  I just figured, since they dumped Tubby they must have bigger ambitions.

Maybe they finally did figure out they're Minnesota and learned their place.

Two Scandals, One Day

Reports of corruption in the officiating ranks of the PAC-12.  And a video tape of what looks like player abuse at Rutgers.  What do these two scandals have in common?

Until the media shined its bright light on them, both Rutgers and the PAC-12 were prepared to brush it all under the carpet.  Isn't that always the way, in college sports?

Unfortunately for both organizations, the media found out, and now the real pressure is on.  The Rutgers A.D. is already re-evaluating his cowardly decision to suspend Rice, mostly trying to save his own bacon.  In a just world, his pink slip would arrive quicker than Ed Rush's.

I don't get how people at Rutgers could look at the video tape from practice and not want to fire Rice.  Does the chase for basketball legitimacy overshadow all reason?  But in the end, it's the Paterno Effect.  Keep everything quiet and hope the story doesn't get out.  Unfortunately for Rutgers, the story got out.

As for Ed Rush, the PAC-12 kind of deserves what they are getting for bringing in an NBA referee.  Rush offered prizes you'd expect in the Showcase Showdown to whoever T-ed up Sean Miller.  The PAC-12 can spin the story any way they want, but if Rush is still in charge next Fall, the legitimacy of the league's officiating will be compromised.  Who watches the watchmen?

NCAA Feel Good Story

Florida Gulf Coast was everyone's plucky little favorite team for two weeks.  But they got eliminated from the Tournament, so now it's time to cash in.  Andy Enfield moved on to USC, bucking the trend of other mid-major sensations like Shaka Smart, Mark Few, and Brad Stevens.  Will Enfield find happiness in La-La Land?  He'll certainly find wealth.

Meanwhile, his feel-good story players are left behind at FGCU, wondering what happened.  Unfortunately for the players, they can't cash in like their coach.  But at least the players helped their former coach make millions!

What About Louisville-Duke?

Few anticipated a complete Duke blowout. In fact, a narrative was floating around that Duke was going to dominate from the free-throw line late and pull out a close one.  I think in the end, Louisville's guards, Siva and Smith, had too much speed in getting to the basket and scoring almost at will during a key stretch in the second half, blowing the game wide open.  Dieng's long jumpers were the final blow.  Duke had no counter once Louisville turned up their defensive pressure, and the Blue Devils failed to score for several minutes.

Worst Injury I've Ever Seen in Basketball.

I'm sorry I watched the replay.  The image of Kevin Ware's dangling lower leg will stay with me for a while.  I happened to check the UK board right after the injury, and it came as no surprise to me to see 99.9% of UK fans hoping Ware has a speedy recovery.  No decent fan of the game could think differently.

It sounds like the surgery went well, and hopefully Ware will recover enough to join the team in Atlanta next Saturday.

You Can Talk About the Threes...

Stauskas was amazing, without question.  But Florida's downfall was getting their heads kicked in on the boards early in the game.  Once again, the Gators proved to be a soft team, and they couldn't match Michigan's Big 10 style physical play for 40 minutes.

Just one more question.  Eric Murphy, 0-11?

During the off-season, Donovan needs to re-tool his logistics.