Donaghy and College Refs
Many people are anxious to see how the Tim Donaghy scandal will affect college basketball, since so many people bet on college hoops. In fact, college hoops actually accounts for more money in terms of sports betting, due to the perception that NBA players do not play their hardest on certain nights. It is hard, thus, to bet that a team will win when their motivation isn’t there. For college players, the motivation of winning the championship is always there, and every player is playing to make it to the next level. There are no guaranteed paychecks. So for the average fan, whenever we lose our bracket pool, we can blame it on the refs. This will likely be the most lasting affect of the scandal.
John Clougherty, the head of the ACC officials, had this to say: “This will open up a situation for someone to say that, ‘I told you so. Those guys in stripes are less than honest. Any time a fan loses a bet, he’s going to say the official is on the take. It just worries me, whether you’re in the NBA or college, we’re going to have to fight an image problem. Our integrity has been damaged, without question.”
If you would like to complain about the refs to the guys in the stands next to you, or if you would like to defend the honest ones, then you can get NCAA Basketball tickets at StubHub.com.
Team US Struggles at Pan Am Games
Team USA managed to get a very disappointing fifth place at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. The American squad, made up of college hoops stars, was leas by D.J. White of Illinois, who averaged over 16 points per game. The US team was outmatched by the competition, as their relative inexperience in international basketball showed with their unwillingness to match the physicality of the rest of the teams.
This is definitely not a good sign for the future of US hoops. Of course, we were playing college hoops stars against their best professionals. But that shouldn’t count as an excuse. Not in my book. It seems to me that America ought to come up with something better, purely based on population totals. This kind of constant embarrassment on the international scene is getting pretty tiresome. Perhaps our standards are too high, or perhaps we are in a bit of a slump basketball-wise, but struggling at basketball shouldn’t be a problem. We can get back on top of the international basketball world, but we perhaps have to dedicate more energy to it.
If you would like to see these Pan Am players in action against college competition, all you have to do is go to StubHub.com to get some NCAA basketball tickets.
All-Around College Athletics Programs
At the end of the academic year, Sports Illustrated released a list of the top 25 “All-Around” universities when it comes to NCAA athletics. The rankings were compiled using a points format that awarded schools for each NCAA team- men’s and women’s- which received a top-25 ranking at the end of the season for each sport. In order to appease the masses, the compilations weighed the football and basketball scores with double the amount of points that the other sports received. The results might be shocking for fans of the Florida Gators.
The Gators ended up getting sixth overall, despite becoming national champions in both basketball and football, scoring them a total of 100 overall points for those two sports alone. They received only 178 points total in the competition. Because they were the more well-rounded school, Ohio State got second (210 points), despite losing to the Gators in the national championship in both football and basketball. North Carolina got the title this year, dominating the “All-Around” competition with 223 points. UCLA, USC and Stanford got third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Make sure that you see these great college teams by getting NCAA Basketball tickets at StubHub.com.
Dickie-V Picks the Players
Dick Vitale has posted a list of who he believes to be the top returning college basketball players in the nation. The list is organized into five teams, thus creating a list of 25 of the best pre-season hoops players to watch this year, and in effect ranking them by position. Usually with All-Star teams there are two teams- a first team and a second team- which is why you will hear the phrase, second-team all-American, or something to that effect. Of course, Dickie-V is so excited about the players this hoops season that he made five teams. Thus, Marcellus Kemp of Nevada could claim in a resume that he was a Dickie-V Fifth-Team All-Rolls Royce preseason player.
This is a great way to rank players, but I think it falls short of the NFL version of this kind of thing, The All-Madden Team, which will get players onto the teams for spurious and sometimes comical reasons. Instead, Dick just makes some obvious picks and follows it up with a shallow explanation. For example, his reasoning behind a player will go something like this: “G: Marcellus Kemp, Nevada: Coach Mark Fox is happy to have Kemp returning to Nevada.”
If you would like to see Dick’s Picks, then you can go to StubHub.com to get NCAA Basketball tickets.
Arkansas State to Change Mascot
Under the rules of the NCAA, a college with a racially hostile or abusive nickname is not permitted and that schools in violation of this rule are subject to punishments. That being the case, the Arkansas State has decided to change their Indian mascot… they just don’t know what it will be, when it will be done, or how. Arkansas State Chancellor Robert L. Potts has formed a Mascot Selection Steering Committee to combat those questions. Of course, the members are yet to be chosen.
The name will likely be something to do with the local history or a popular mascot as chosen in a public survey. But I would like to see some chances taken. I want a nickname that is one for the headlines. I want the Bees! I mean it. I think the Bees would be a great mascot. Of course, it would be better is the team colors were black and yellow. And it would help if the school name started with the letter B. But then you could have a “Buzz” cheer, call the arena “The Hive” and “swarm’ the courts after big games.
Until then, you can get NCAA basketball tickets at StubHub.com.
Ref Scandal in College, Too?
The scope and power of the recent NBA ref scandal will likely reverberate throughout the sports world into all different leagues and organizations. The basic trust that the public has with its officials- be it religious, political, or on the playing field of a sporting contest, is something that we all, for some reason or another, hold sacred. When that bond is broken, the consequences are dire for all involved and that includes people who follow college basketball as well.
NCAA hoops are something on which many people find themselves wagering. The statistics about the betting that takes place around the NCAA Tournament are incredible. While most people are involved in illegal betting in March Madness office pools and bracket contests with friends or online, the problem of sports betting, especially with betting in the college ranks, is a very serious issue. How will the NCAA deal with the fallout from the Tim Donaghy scandal? Can this type of thing be prevented from happening in the college hoops world?
The answers to those two questions are unclear at this point, and the investigations into Donaghy’s actions are still ongoing. This isn’t good for basketball at all. But college hoops, hopefully, will keep from being dragged into the muck. In the meantime, you can always get some great NCAA basketball tickets at StubHub.com.
American Hoops Stars Get Silver
The US Under 19 basketball team failed to win the Gold Medal in the FIBA U19 World Championship game yesterday. The US team received a silver medal following its loss to the host country, Serbia. France got the bronze medal after beating Brazil in the third-place game.
The Americans trailed at halftime to the Serbs by a score of 43-30, and could not get back into the game at the end, failing to convert on many free throw attempts. The Americans were 11-24 at the charity stripe.
Although it is difficult to get angry over a silver medal, I am still one of those Americans who demand that we not only win, but dominate the rest of the world at the sports that we invented- including baseball, football and basketball. I hope that our Olympic team and the team being assembled of NBA stars is able to at least do as well as these college basketball all-stars. Now that the tournament is over, you can start getting NCAA basketball tickets at StubHub.com to see these athletes play.
Refreshing Talk from Hibbert
University of Georgetown center Roy Hibbert is making a lot of college hoops fans and commentators smile these days. Since the NCAA basketball season is months away and the Pan-Am Games have not yet begun, Roy Hibbert is impressing people off the court, rather than on it. In what should be a common trend, but sadly is not, Roy Hibbert is deciding to stay in school for his final year at Georgetown, not only because he will make a higher draft pick next year, but also because he wants to graduate.
Said Hibbert the other day, “I like school. I’m a government major and have a lot of fun classes. It’s easy to go to school, and it would be different if I didn’t like school. But it’s real fun.”
Three cheers for Roy Hibbert. I, for one (and Andy Katz of ESPN for another), really like to see a kid with the potential to make an immediate buck in the NBA put that aside for a year for a sure thing: a college degree. Going to college shouldn’t be something that basketball players take for granted, and I like seeing that Roy Hibbert and a few others can appreciate that they have been given an opportunity at a free education at a top university. If you would like to root for Hibbert to get to the Final Four and get his diploma, you can get Georgetown Hoyas tickets at StubHub.com.
Team USA Wins Again
The US Under 19 National team, made up of some of the most promising college basketball players, just beat France in the Under 19 World Championships yesterday. The Americans, along with the Australians, are undefeated so far in the tournament. With the win over France, the US will move on to the medal quarterfinals where they will play the 3-3 Argentineans.
Said Coach Jerry Wainwright after the game, “We’re trying to go from game to game and find the right combination. I know we stumbled a little bit at the end. I think we got a little bit tired and they came after us, we got a little bit loose with the ball. But I thought that for a spurt we played as good a game of basketball that we’ve played all tournament.”
Just as soon as these American boys finish whooping up on the world competition, they will begin to beat up on each other back home in the NCAA Division I. You can see all of the stars of the U-19 team by getting NCAA basketball tickets at StubHub.com.
More on Pac-10 Hoops
So if you check out the ESPN.com list of the top 25 pre season NCAA basketball hoops teams you will notice that the Pac-10 is very well represented. UCLA, Washington State and Oregon are all at the top of the list, but in the early twenties a few west coast teams show up as well. Stanford, Arizona and USC are the numbers 19, 20, and 21 in the Top 25.
The thing that is so perplexing is that both Stanford and Arizona had such disappointing seasons last year. Arizona failed to make the NCAAs, and Stanford barely did, though they got embarrassed in the opening round by the Louisville Cardinals. USC makes the list despite losing two of their best players to the opening round of the NBA Draft.
So why all the Pac-10 love? Well, if you follow the logic of Andy Katz, you’ll see that all three of these teams have one thing in common: good returning players. Of course, that’s true every team on this list with one exception, the Florida Gators. If you would like to catch the hot Pac-10 teams, though, you can see them live by getting Pac-10 basketball tickets at StubHub.com.