As we wait on the latest toe update, let's peruse what else is going on in the college basketball world.
- Butler lost to Cleveland State in the Horizon League title game which means someone(probably Virginia Tech) is going to get left out of the tournament since Butler will be given an at large bid anyway. ESPN likes to talk about "bracket busters" or "bubble busting" or whatever asinine marketing phrase someone in Bristol comes up with this week but when you have teams that are going to be sitting at home swipe an automatic bid from some at-large lock, it inevitably pushes someone out of the way.
- Speaking of mid-majors, whither the Davidson fans now? You know all of you guys who were beating your chest talking about how Davidson was the 2nd coming of Gonzaga(even though we are not done with the first one yet.) Where are all of those folks who actually talked smack to Tar Heel fans because Davidson almost beat Kansas and UNC had more trouble with the Jayhawks? Where are the proclamations of Stephen Curry's greatness? Strangley quiet. Not even making it to the Southern Conference title game will do that to a fan base. Only collecting one quality win all season and looking fairly pedestrian in several losses to major schools will do the same. Davidson will not be getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Accept that now. And no CBS is not going to call that certain hotel in Indianapolis and demand they put Stephen Curry in the NCAA Tournament. Yes he is fun to watch but you know what made him fun to watch? The fact Davidson was actually winning games against good teams. The last "good" team Davidson beat was West Virginia and even they are on the bubble. In the end the national media overlooked the graduation of Wildcat PG Jason Richards who was a good player in his own right and had a huge hand in making Curry and Davidson the team they were. Look at the bright side, the NIT could use a boost and a little Stephen Curry madness will certainly do that.
- Billy Gillespie in trouble at Kentucky? Already? And people gave UNC fans grief of over the Matt Doherty debacle. Kentucky is going to the NIT unless they show up huge in the SEC Tournament. UK fans, being what they are, will view this as beneath them. In fact UK told the NIT they would accept a bid if they did not make the NCAA Tournament as though it was not a foregone conclusion. I am glad Kentucky is willing to step down from the mountain and mingle with those grubby mid-major schools. Anyway, I have thought all along Gillespie was a bad choice. Winning at Texas A&M where there is ZERO pressure on the basketball coach is a far cry from the fire pit that is Lexington. Yet two years into this, Gillespie is already facing an after season meeting with the AD to discuss his job status. It bears uncanny resemblance to the Herb Sendek situation at NCSU except I actually understand some of the complaints about Sendek they had. UK fans are just nuts and having Rick Pitino at Louisville going to the Final Four and then last season the Elite Eight is probably pushing them further over the edge. And did I mention Gillespie is one of the bigger jerks in college coaching?
- Georgetown was eliminated from the Big East Tournament by St. Johns on Tuesday and Cincinnati found a way to lose to a 8-23 Depaul team who was 0-18 in the Big East. I am not sure Georgetown will make the NIT at this point. Pretty fast fall from the Final Four two years ago. You may laugh now if you'd like.