Missouri State Will Play For National Title

Scratching your head after reading the headline? The Missouri State Bears are set to play Tuesday night March 30th in the Championship game of the 2nd Annual CIT (CollegeInsider.com Tournament).

The Bears (23-12) host Pacific (23-11)...Tipp off is 7:05 pm from the JQH Arena in Springfield, MO. You can see the game live on Fox College Sports. If you have Direct TV and live in the Cape Girardeau area I believe the FCS channels are 617 & 623. On Charter Cable you'll find FCS programming on channel 401.

I bet the overwhelming majority of average sports fans ( and I'll go as far as adding hardcore sports fans) have never heard of the CIT. Don't take anything away from Missouri State, they may not be "dancing" with the big boys but they are playing good basketball and just days from playing for a "National Championship". It will mark the programs first national tournament championship game since 1974 when they lost 67-52 to Morgan State in the NCAA Division II finals.

Need a reason to watch...Former Sikeston star Michael Porter is a freshman for the Bears (but sidelined with a hamstring injury) and Saluki Hall Of Famer Kent Williams is an assistant coach.

SIRR All Conference Team

Just got this from Murphysboro High Shcool Athletics Director Len Novara the All-Southern Illinois River To River Conference Basketball Team.

Len is one of the best high school AD's in the Heartland. He runs his office similar to that of a Sports Information Director at the college level.

Len keeps us informed with everything having to do with Red Devils athletics sending out press releases and game notes from the varsity level down to junior high. Great Job!

2010 SIRR Basketball Team

Marching To Madness

If the NCAA Tournament is not enough to keep you on your march-to-madness there is more help. In the form of more post season tournaments which can open the door to more office bracket pools (for the purpose of bragging rights...of course).

Most of us focus on the "The Big Dance" (NCAA Tournament) and pay passing attention to the NIT Tournament, but dig a little deeper and you will hit two more tournaments (CBI Tournament, CIT Tournament).

The CBI (College Basketball Invitational) is back for a third year and the newest kid on the block, the CIT (College Insider Tournament), is set to play out it's second event.

Of the four tournaments I like the format of the CBI best when it comes to crowning a champion...play a best of three title series. Any team can play well for one game but spread it over (potentially) three games and the chances of the better team wining increase.
Tulsa won the inaugural championship and Oregon State won last year.

Looking into my crystal ball the picture of a larger NCAA Tournament is beginning to develop. Like it or not the talk of expanding the field of 65 will happen. How many more teams will be handed dancing shoes? Your guess is as good as mine. I have heard anywhere from six more teams to 63. Do we really need 128 teams in the NCAA Tournament! Once you get past the first few rounds the bracket would look like it does today.

I am in favor of expansion on a very small scale. For the 2000 tournament the NCAA added a 65th team following the creation of the Mountain West Conference. The MWC conference tournament champion did not receive and automatic bid so rather than take away an at-large bid the NCAA created the play-in game.

The play-in game has been a huge success but the NCAA needs to take it a step further and add
three more teams creating four play-in games. The winners would then be slapped with a #16 seed and sent on their merry way to an opening round game to play a one seed.

This formula would open the door for "bubble" teams and hopefully give an opportunity for more Mid-Major schools to be selected.

Creating a NCAA Tournament with more than 68 teams would not be a good idea... It would dilute the tournament, make it harder to get a bracket (for the office pool) on one piece of paper and more importantly further weaken the CIT, CBI and NIT.

NCAA Bracket
NIT Bracket
CBI Bracket
CIT Bracket

Not In The Cards For Lady Bulldogs

For the third time this decade and first since 2003 the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs finish second in the state. The Class 4 Title goes to the Webb City Cardinals.

Notre Dame was strong in the first half building a 5 point lead only to see it slip to a one point advantage (26-25) at halftime. The Bulldogs had to muscle through most of the second quarter after senior center Jane Morrill reaggravated her injured ankle. She did return to the game favoring her ankle at times, but still powered in 16 points. Junior guard Allyson Bradshaw scored a team high 18 on 8-15 shooting.

Notre Dame trailed by eight with 5:38 remaining in the game but thanks to a Bradshaw jumper with 2:57 to go cut the deficit to three at 49-46. That is as close at the Lady Bulldogs would get.
Webb City quickly built a 9 point lead and held on to win 60-53.

Countdown to Girls Class 4 Championship

Early in Friday's Class Four Semifinal I was beginning to think the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs run to the school's first Girls Hoops Title since 2002 would come to an end thanks to the sharp shooting of St. Dominic. But as most good teams do Notre Dame willed itself back into the game eventually pulling away late in the fourth quarter.

So here we are Notre Dame (26-4) and Webb City (29-1) just minutes from tipping off in a what has the potential to be a classic. Webb City finished third last season in Class 4 and has yet to win a Girls Basketball State Championship.

The Lady Cardinals start only one underclassman (junior Kaitlin Jaeger). She will be a handful for Notre Dame to defend. Jaeger is leading the team in scoring with 18.4 per game. She is one of three Webb City players putting up double figures in points (Hailey Roderique 15.3 and Kyndal Clark 12.3).

One thing to keep an eye on (at least early in the game today) is the health of Notre Dame 's Jane Morrill. The senior center suffered a mild injury to her ankle in the second half of Fridays Semifinal win over St. Dominic.

"It's fine," Said Morrill. "I tweaked it before then I got caught on a girls foot and I rolled it again, but it's fine." "I'll tape it up and be good to go."

Notre Dame and Webb City tipp off at 2:50 today.

The team is headed back to Cape tonight following the game.

Countdown to Girls Class 4 Semifinal

I'm back in Columbia for my yearly feast of Final Four High School Hoops. The Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs (25-4) are just minutes from tipping off against the St. Dominic Lady Crusaders (23-3).

I passed a lot of Bulldog fans on the highway making the trip...Looks like they will have a solid fan base backing them up. This is the fourth time this decade Notre Dame has advanced to Columbia.

They won the Class 2A Title (under Head Coach Jerry Grimm) in 2002.

I like there chances this weekend to bring home another Championship. Notre Dame is averaging 11 points more per game than St. Dominic and have three Lady Bulldogs averaging double digits in scoring (Allyson Bradshaw 14.5, Jane Morril 12.4 and Brooke Bohnert 12.5).

Look for highlights tonight on Heartland News at 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm.

Morehead State Eagle Crash Landing

Thankfully my last Blog post is now (relatively) meaningless. Murray State secured the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with Saturday's 62-51 win over Morehead State.

If you were not at the game you probably did not see the Morehead State mascot trample over a cheerleader (don't know if ESPN2 showed the video on air). It happened just minutes before tipp-off.

Don't worry... The only injury suffered was to the ego of the cheerleader and/or the bird-person.

Kudos to KFVS Chief Photographer John Morgan for capturing the "event".

Racers Deserve to Dance

The NCAA Tournament dream for the Murry State men's basketball team can come true with a pair of victories this weekend in Nashville beginning with Friday nights Semifinal game against Eastern Illinois. The Racers swept the regular season series against the Panthers winning by 16 in the first meeting and 9 just ten days later.

A loss in Nashville could turn the dream into a nightmare which could last more than a week untill the NCAA Selection Show. Most bracket projections have only one team from the OVC playing in the tournament. Of course that would be the winner of the conference tournament with no other OVC team receiving an at-large bid.

In years past that formula has been correct, but this year the predictable tried and true recipe used by the Selection Committee needs a little tweaking. To borrow from Chef Emeril Lagasse, the process could use some "Bam".

This quote from Emeril fits the situation.

“I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?”

I would love to see that written on the dry erase board in the Selection Commitee's "War Room". Variety is the spice of life - the NCAA Tournament could use some out-of-the-box forward thinking.

By no means is the OVC a power conference or one which can even be mentioned with the likes of the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big XII or even the mid-majors (MVC, Horizon, etc.).

As of Thursday March 4th the OVC ranks 20th in RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) out of 33 Division 1 leagues.

RPI Rankings: Conference
1. Big XII
2. Big East
3. ACC
4. SEC

5. Big Ten
9. MVC
33. Great West

Simply looking at the overall RPI and it's easy to see why it appears Murray State needs to secure the OVC's automatic bid. Dig deeper and you'll see the Racers have done everything possible (short of going undefeated) to get an at-large bid. They dominated the regular season (17-1) in the OVC, nearly won road games over Cal (RPI 23) and Lousiana Tech (RPI 80), won all 15 home games and have a 28-4 record heading to Nashville. Honestly! What more could you ask for.

Bypassing Murray State for a .500 team from a power conference would be a huge injustice and continue to devalue the importance the regular season. You can't blame coach Kennedy, Ivan Aska, Tony Easley, Isaiah Canaan or the rest of the team for playing in a bad conference, but you can reward a team for doing what great teams do...Dominate their opponent.


Coach Kennedy talks about the struggles for national recognition.

MVC Tournament Info

Need to know the time and channel to watch the 2010 MVC men's basketball tournament games?

Here is all the information - probably more than you'll need.

2010 STATE FARM MVC MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Scottrade Center (21,472) ... St. Louis, Missouri ... March 4-7

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #1 at Noon Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at noon Central.

Fox Sports Indiana -- Live at noon Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at noon Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Live at noon Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at noon Central.

DirecTV -- Live at noon Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at noon Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at noon Central on channel 748.

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #2 at 2:30 p.m. Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Indiana -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central.

DirecTV -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at 2:30 p.m. Central on channel 748.

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #3 at 6 p.m. Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at 6 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at 6 p.m. Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Tape-delay at 12:30 a.m. Central on March 6.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus (alternate channel) – Live at 6 p.m. Central.

*Comcast and Bright House (Channel 81) in Indianapolis, Ind. – Live at 6 p.m. Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at 6 p.m. Central.

DirecTV -- Live at 6 p.m. Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at 6 p.m. Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at 6 p.m. Central on channel 748.

*--Will only clear if Evansville defeats Missouri State on March 4 and advances.

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #4 at 8:30 p.m. Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Tape-delay at 2:30 a.m. Central on March 6.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus (alternate channel) – Live at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Comcast and Bright House (Channel 81) in Indianapolis, Ind. – Live at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central.

DirecTV -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at 8:30 p.m. Central on channel 748.

Saturday, March 6 -- Semifinal #1 at 1:30 p.m. Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Indiana -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central.

DirecTV -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at 1:30 p.m. Central on channel 748.

Saturday, March 6 -- Semifinal #2 at 4 p.m. Central

Fox Sports Midwest -- Live at 4 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Indiana -- Live at 4 p.m. Central.

Fox Sports Kansas City -- Live at 4 p.m. Central.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- Live at 4 p.m. Central.

Metro Sports -- Live at 4 p.m. Central.

DirecTV -- Live at 4 p.m. Central on channel 671.

Dish Network -- Live at 4 p.m. Central on channel 418.

AT&T U-Verse -- Live at 4 p.m. Central on channel 748.

STATE FARM MVC MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TALENT ASSIGNMENTS

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #1 at Noon Central

Mitch Holthus (PBP), Mac McCausland (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #2 at 2:30 p.m. Central

Dan McLaughlin (PBP), Charlie Spoonhour (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #3 at 6 p.m. Central

Mitch Holthus (PBP), Mac McCausland (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)

Friday, March 5 -- Quarterfinal #4 at 8:30 p.m. Central

Dan McLaughlin (PBP), Charlie Spoonhour (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)

Saturday, March 6 -- Semifinal #1 at 1:30 p.m. Central

Dan McLaughlin (PBP), Charlie Spoonhour (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)

Saturday, March 6 -- Semifinal #2 at 4 p.m. Central

Dan McLaughlin (PBP), Charlie Spoonhour (Analyst), Scott Warmann (Host), Tom Ackerman (Sideline)