Belmont coach employs the sweater vest look, nearly up-ends Duke

Rick Byrd, Belmont basketball head coach, put a new face to the sweater vest "trend" this evening during his near-upset of Coach K and the hated Blue Devils (71-70). It's uncertain as to whether the look is inspired by The Vest himself, but a quick scan of the Bruins website and the always reliable Google Images shows that Byrd is rarely seen without a handsome v-neck over a crisp button down.

Needless to say, coach Byrd is a poorly-executed inbounds play away from making my short list of complete strangers who I'd trust to tattoo a Block-O on my neck while driving recklessly through a suburban neighborhood.

Can't score, can't win, Kent State

Taken earlier today: The Golden Flashes pose at the Delt house before departing for Omaha

Ragging on Kent St. is about as relevant as a Mad TV sketch, but today was an unpleasent reminder of why the Golden Flashes will always be that other MAC team from Ohio.

K-State was drubbed today by UNLV,71-58, in one of those hard-to-predict 8 v. 9 matchups. Other than mildly embarassing me in the opening round of what is destined to be my best pool showing ever, the Flashes only scored 10 points in the 1st half.

10 points.

A glance at the box score offers a few explanations for this offensive "output," the obvious being 17 turnovers (in the first half.)

This unceremonious early exit, though only one round earlier than I expected (UNLV will face Kansas in the second round), is most disappointing when considering the amount of positive press Kent St. earned leading up to the tournament. In fact, many experts were labeling this year's team as "giant killers" who had a legitimate chance against the mighty Jayhawks. We'll never know.

All eyes now turn to Xavier and Brookhaven grad Andrew Lavander, who barely escaped Georgia today, 73-61.

Terrelle Pryor narrows list down to 1

Terrelle Pryor will be attending The Ohio State University and is the dual-threat icing on top of the cake that is the best recruiting class in the Jim Tressel era (with the signing of Pryor, OSU "leapfrogs" USC to claim ESPN's 6th best class.)

His anti-climatic press conference has long past the 5- minute mark and one can imagine the strain traveling reporter Paul Germain feels in his left arm while holding his Blackberry up the TV back in Columbus.

I'll be looking for some kind of transcript of the p.c., as it played out more like a post-game interview. Most intriguing were the segments where T.P. reminisced about RichRod's plea for one more chance and gave us fans some reassurance that his diva status was the fault of us bloggers/media.

UPDATE: 10tv.com has screwed me again. Check here for the video (Thanks Vico, OHD)

Elsewhere, Mike Ferrell, Pryor's unlikely confidante throughout the saga, says goodbye to his most interesting story ever.

And finally, Kirk Bart--er, Michael Brewster's take on the deal (from Scout.com):

“Because we have one of the best coaches in the country,” Brewster said. “We’ve got the offense that will mold him into a Heisman (winner), a line that will protect him and this offense will not only mold him for a Heisman but will also make him ready for the NFL. The spread offense at Michigan and what they run, that will get you hurt as you can see in all those programs: Oregon, Florida, West Virginia. Also, nobody runs that in the NFL. I just want my good friend to be playing quarterback so I can protect him.

Check back for continuing coverage and join the effort to beat this dead horse for a few more days

Welcome home, Terrelle.

Pryor to announce tomorrow

Projected to be bigger than the season finalies of Project Runway and Rock of Love 2 combined, Terrelle Pryor will finally end speculation and announce his decision tomorrow, high noon.

As evidenced by the brevity of the Post Gazette article, this is "breaking" news and there's no word of a televised press conference at this time.

UPDATE: It took a couple hours, but there's finally some substantial, non-recycled info surfacing in light of Pryor announcing his plans to announce his announcement. Bob Lichtenfels of Scout.com posted an article titled "Pryor Ready To Move On" this afternoon...and it sounds like Pryor to OSU isn't exactly a sure-bet.

Pryor has told various media outlets that he is down to two teams, but today he told us it still remains set at three.
One source who only spoke on condition of anonymity, but is very close to the situation has informed us that Michigan has made up a lot of ground recently and could be the wild card in this situation.
“Several very influential Michigan players past and present and other NFL people have been telling him that Michigan would be the best move for his future,” our source said. “Ohio State looks to be the front-runner, but I wouldn’t close the door on Michigan just yet."

I'm not sure who these "influential" Michigan players of the past could be since most of them seem to enjoy bad-mouthing their alma mater in the media. Perhaps all this additional reporting by Lichtenfels is just meant to add an element of suspense because I feel this quote says it all:

Pryor doesn’t appear to be very dramatic about the whole decision making process and was not evasive when we asked if the school of choice already knew his plans.
“I’m pretty sure they know I’m coming," Pryor stated.

If "they" isn't "us" at this point, I'd say Buckeye Nation has been duped.

Finally, another way to slow workplace productivity

The fine scholars at the Syracuse basketball blog, Cuse Country, are hosting their 2nd Annual NIT Bracket Challenge.

Thanks to some grade-A Microsoft Office work and a true commitment to the sport (of casual gambling and basketball), Cuse Country has given all of us Buckeye fans another reason to watch our team throw down with the rest of the best.

DEADLINE IS TUESDAY (TOMORROW), 6 PM so I encourage everyone to head over to Cuse Country and fill out your bracket.

For those following at home, the "official" OCT bracket is displayed below. Notice the juicy match up in the final: OSU v. former Buckeye coach Gary Williams and the Turtlepins (winner: OSU.) Other than that, use the following bracket as an example of what not to do.

Bucks grab that elusive No. 1 seed after all

Only this year it's in the N.I.T., which, evidently, is not as "prestigious" as the NCAA Tournament.

Ohio St. will face that venerable, history-rich program from North Carolina, UNC-Asheville, which, evidently, exists. (Tuesday, 7PM, ESPN2)

The big story thats making everyone in Bristol, CT giggle is the possibility that OSU and Florida will meet again in a championship setting. It's still uncertain whether this scenerio would be good for anyone.

I'm trying to find a good site for electronic N.I.T. pools. Seriously.

Did Gumbel almost say Ohio St.?

Absolutely. Someone get the selection show on YouTube, post-haste.

For anyone who missed the show or gave up after the first two regions were named, CBS's Greg Gumbel reeeeeallly sounded like he was about to read Ohio State in place of Georgia for the 14th seed in the West.

Alas, Georgia certainly deserves to be there after winning four games in three days to capture the SEC's automatic bid and, as 11w pointed out, officially booting the Bucks.

However, in the tradition of, who else, Georgia, we can certainly bitch about why we should have a more desirable post-season destination. CBS pointed out earlier in their broadcast that, essentially, the official brackets were locked in early this afternoon--taking into consideration the different outcomes of the SEC and Big 10 championship games. So, as I'm almost certain Gumbel almost said, Ohio St. would have been the 14th seed in the West if Georgia had lost today.

Who's in, who's out?: Pryor & the basketball Bucks

Per Scout.com and the punctual reporting over at Our Honor Defend & Eleven Warriors, Terrelle Pryor is taking the plunge and announcing his decision "sometime" next week.

And with days to spare until the April 1 deadline!

Check out OHD/ 11W for the particulars of this breaking news (yes, there is mention of "the list.") The long and the short of it seems to be that old T.P. never did pencil in those visits to Oregon or Penn St. and might be choosing between OSU and Michigan after all.

As there was a relative Pryor gossip blackout after his brief appearance at OSU's Junior Day, there can be much speculation about who was whispering what into his impressionable young ears between basketball games. I'm looking at you, Rich.

Concerning the basketball Bucks...

With a few games underway/left to play today, Joe Lunardi, Phd, Bracketology, named OSU one of the "last four out" of his pre-selection show bracket. It was the last time you'll see "Ohio St." mentioned in the same stanza as "Illinios St. and New Mexico St."



Only time will tell.