It’s Final Four week. Four teams left. Four coaches left. Until Saturday night’s national semifinals in Jerry Jones’ Playland, we’re all about the number 4. The NCAA pulled together the four coaches for a conference call with reporters on Monday. From all that pregame chatter, we’ve extracted four – yes, four – talking points. One […]
Awards keep rolling in for Shabazz Napier
March 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
UConn guard Shabazz Napier can have an outstanding day without even playing a game. Napier, who led the Huskies to the NCAA East Regional championship and a berth in the Final Four on Sunday, was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press and was named to the Wooden Award All-American on Monday. Personally, I […]
UConn releases Final Four fan travel information
March 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It is now almost 1 a.m. on Monday, March 31. It’s the day after the NCAA East Regional final and, no, you weren’t dreaming. The UConn Huskies are headed to their fifth Final Four and still in the hunt for the school’s fourth national championship in men’s basketball. Kevin Ollie and his coaching staff came […]
Michigan State and UConn have come a long way
March 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – The nation’s perception of Michigan State has changed drastically since early March when the Spartans lost to Illinois at home and then to Ohio State on the road. Coach Tom Izzo was quick to point that out to reporters Saturday as the Spartans prepared to meet Connecticut in the NCAA East Regional […]
Daniels gives Huskies that Elite feeling again
March 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – When DeAndre Daniels hit his third consecutive shot to open the second half and give Connecticut a 14-point lead, Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg felt compelled to use a timeout. When Daniels took a feed from Shabazz Napier and hit a three-pointer four minutes later to extend the lead to 17, it […]
Kane and Napier ready to make their point again
March 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
NEW YORK – The game may be decided by someone else, someone like UConn’s DeAndre Daniels or Iowa State Naz Long, but when this NCAA Sweet 16 game tips off in Madison Square Garden Friday night (7:27 p.m., TBS) most eyes will be on the point guard matchup. UConn’s Shabazz Napier and Iowa State’s DeAndre […]
Thank you Mr. Canfield
March 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment
When you spend so much time writing about others, it can be kind of embarrassing when someone writes about you. My longtime friend and former co-worker, Owen Canfield, wrote about me this week. And that doesn’t embarrass me one bit because there are very few people in this world that I trust and respect more […]
Ollie and Hoiberg reunited again
March 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg and UConn’s Kevin Ollie have emerged as two of the bright, young stars in college coaching and they will be reunited Friday (7:27 p.m.) when their teams meet in an NCAA East Regional semifinal at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hoiberg and Ollie have ties that run deep in their […]
UMass football leaving MAC after 2015
March 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Surprising announcement from UMass and the MAC today. Here’s the press release from the MAC: Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) jointly announced today that the 2015 football season will be the final year for UMass as a football-only member of the MAC. “UMass has been a valued […]
College basketball’s Sweet 16 power rankings
March 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
After a weekend of trimming the field, we are down to 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament. It’s time to reassess the favorites and I’ve done that for the weekly Power Rankings on FoxSports.com. The first three rounds of the NCAA tournament offered up a little bit of everything. There were six overtime games, big […]