Mark Barnes's Blog

Posted by Mark Barnes

What is March Madness without Cinderella, dancing her way across the hardwoods of the NCAA Tournament?

In 2006, she was George Mason, who made a Final Four run -- just the second eleven seed ever to make it that far. We wonder if 2007's Cinderella might be the Winthrop Eagles.

Winthrop has all the makings of this year's NCAA Tournament hearthrop.

• Winthrop hails from the Big South Conference, a mid-major conference that few people West of the Carolinas have ever heard of.
• The Eagles have talented stars, Torrell Martin and Michael Jenkins, that America can easily fall in love with.
• Winthrop has a handsome, young head coach, Gregg Marshall, whom many major college basketball programs will no doubt be calling after the NCAA Tournament (Michigan is one likely suitor).
• The Eagles have a remarkable 19-game winning streak.
• And Winthrop plays the kind of game that college basketball and NCAA Tournament fans love. The Eagles run, defend and shoot the three-pointer as well as just about any top seed in the tournament.

After a stunning upset of high-flying Notre Dame in the first round -- a game that saw the Eagles build a double-digit lead, blow it, then hang on with some clutch shooting down the stretch -- fans are noticing and the madness is building.

One more win over another favorite, and Winthrop will be well on its way to dancing with the princes at the 2007 NCAA Tournament ball.

Posted by Mark Barnes

So, Wright State is heading to the NCAA Tournament and March Madness. Butler, which lost to Wright State in the Horizon League Tournament Championship game, will also be invited as an at-large team. This means plenty of trouble for major college basketball conference "bubble teams."

The last thing teams like Michigan of the Big Ten and Clemson of the ACC wanted to see was a win by Wright State.

If Butler had won, the Horizon League would have likely sent just one team, as Wright State would most certainly have been eliminated. Now, Wright State wins the right to college basketball's Big Dance, and Butler has to be in, based on its great season and top 20 NCAA ranking.

This takes a spot that a major college basketball conference team might have earned, even with a marginal season.

Usually teams like Michigan, Clemson and Illinois make the NCAA Tournament. In conferences like the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the ACC, 20 wins overall and 8 or 9 conference victories is usually enough for an at-large bid and a March Madness ticket.

Each time a team like Wright State upsets an NCAA shoo-in like Butler, big conference "bubble" teams cringe.

So, if you're a fan of one of the middle-tier major conference teams, you're likely hating Wright State today, and you'll be holding your breath on NCAA Tournament selection Sunday.

Posted by Mark Barnes

Are the Dallas Mavericks as good as the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls?

If not, they must at least be considered one of the top five NBA teams of all-time, based on their regular-season performance thus far.

Led by NBA MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas has not only won 85 percent of its first 58 games, the Mavericks have now won at least 12 straight games for a third time this season.

You read right. That's three different occasions that Dallas has strung together at least 12 consecutive victories.

Currently on pace to threaten 70 wins, Dallas could surpass that great Bulls team that won 87 out of 100 total games, including the playoffs, in 1995-96. Of course, that Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen-led Bulls team won the NBA crown that season.

That remarkable Chicago team started the season 41-3, giving it an advantage over this year's Mavericks, who limped to an 0-4 start, before its first big winning streak. In fact, turn that poor start into a 3-1 beginning and Dallas would already be on pace to win more games than the record-setting Bulls.

To truly be considered that great, though, Dallas must not only win a lot of regular-season games, it must win an NBA title.

The pieces are certainly in place for Dallas, but there's still plenty of work to be done.

Posted by Mark Barnes

March Madness without the Duke Blue Devils.

It doesn't sound right.

Duke has lost four straight games, is in sixth place in the ACC and is just 18-7, overall. With remaining games at Boston College, at Clemson and at North Carolina, Duke missing the NCAA Tournament is not entirely unreasonable.

It's hard for the average college basketball fan to even consider March Madness without Duke and legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach K is one of four coaches in NCAA Tournament history with three or more titles. His Duke squads have won 30 or more games in a season an NCAA record seven times.

Duke and the NCAA Tournament have been synonymous for decades, but this may change in 2007.

With several mid-major conferences vying to place multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament, numerous college basketball powers will be eliminated.

If the ACC sends its usual five teams to the Big Dance, it wil be difficult for the selection committee to overlook Clemson, which has a better won-loss record than Duke and Florida State, which beat Duke in Durham.

Other factors, such as Wright State winning the Horizon League, could be devastating for Duke. If Wright State gets a bid as this weak conference's winner, this eliminates a major college like Duke, because Butler, also in the Horizon, will definitely get an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, based on the Bulldogs fine record.

So, it seems, Duke is in trouble.

Unless the Blue Devils reel off four or five straight wins, Coach K and mighty Duke may not get an invitation to this year's March Madness dance.

Posted by Mark Barnes

The NCAA Top 25 was shaken by some great upsets last week. North Carolina fell to NC State, Duke fell at home to Florida State, and Oklahoma State lost to lowly Colorado.

So, the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Cowboys fell in the AP and ESPN college basketball rankings, as they should have.

Florida is the obvious choice to head the top 25, and UCLA is a solid number 2.

Butler, which is 22-2 and the winner of the pre-season NIT is a very deserving top 10 team. And, finally, the pollsters gave some respect to Southern Illinois, a top 10 team in the RPI and from a top 5 RPI conference.

How, we wonder, can the voters place Memphis as high as 8th and Nevada at number 12?

Memphis has nothing more than a nice overall record of 19-3. Like Nevada (21-2), the Tigers have beaten absolutely no one. Memphis plays in Conference USA, the 11th-ranked league by the RPI, and the Tigers have not beaten a ranked team all season.

Similarly, Nevada plays an awful schedule. The Western Athletic Conference is the 9th-ranked league, and the Wolf Pack also has no top 25 wins to its credit.

How college basketball voters can put these teams ahead of teams with higher RPI rankings and from tougher conferences – teams like Marquette, Washington State and Florida State – is unfathomable.

It makes any astute college basketball fan wonder on what exactly are the pollsters basing their votes.