Seeds in Need Part of NCAA Tournament

March 18, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

Monday meanderings: No matter how many teams are part of the NCAA basketball tournament field, there always will be schools — and their fans — who will feel snubbed. If those institutions of higher learning actually believe that have been slighted by the NCAA, then why not stay home entirely rather than play in the NIT or the CBI (whatever that is)? Either that, or quit whining.

Bikini competitor Maxine Chaikouang is featured in a video below.

* Speaking of whining, anyone complaining about the tournament seeding needs to take a chill pill. If your school is good enough to win the tournament, it should be able to do so whether it’s a No. 1 or No. 2 or No. Whatever seed. Or do you want the path to a national championship to include facing only the worst teams in the tourney?

* Speaking of seeds, a No. 16 seed never has defeated a No. 1 seed. Seeds never reaching a Final Four: 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. First-round records — No. 1 seed vs. No. 16: 108-0; No.2 vs. No. 15: 104-4; No. 3 vs. No. 14: 92-16; No. 4 vs. No. 13: 85-23; No. 5 vs. No. 12: 72-36; No. 6 vs. No. 11: 72-36; No. 7 vs. No. 10: 65-43; No. 8 vs. No. 9: 51-57.

* For those of us who are a little late with St. Patrick’s Day celebrating (or those who would like to relive), here are some green swimsuits from the fine folks at Sports Illustrated. Ypu can access by clicking here.

* Speaking of swimsuits, the editorial department at elliottharris.com does have some unused video from the 2013 Arnold Sports Festival. Today we are pleased to present Chicagoan Maxine Chaikouang, who worked at the Lone Star Distribution booth at the gathering Feb. 28-March 3 in Columbus, Ohio:

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For what it’s worth, statistical swami Nate Silver — @fivethirtyeight — has tweeted preliminary Final Four odds for the NCAA basketball tournament by region. There could be some refinement, but here is an early assessment:

* South: Florida 37%, Kansas 32%, Michigan 13%, Georgetown 7%, VCU 3%, Minnesota 2%, North Carolina
2%.
* Midwest: Louisville 53%, Duke 18%, Michigan State 11, St. Louis 5%, Creighton 3%, Missouri 3%, Memphis 2%, Oklamona State 2%.
* East: Indiana 51%, Syracuse 12%, Miami 11%, Marquette 6%, North Carolina St. 5%, Butler 3%, UNLV 3%.
* West: Gonzaga 33%, Ohio St. 25%, Wisconsin 9%, New Mexico 9%, Arizona 8%, Kansas State 5%, Pitt 5%, Notre Dame 2%.

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The Chicago Bulls return home to the United Center to play the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. To celebrate, we offer a couple of Luvabulls videos from the team’s last home game, March 8: