OT: I'm Not Dead. I Feel Happy! I Feel Happy!

Truth be told there isn't a whole hell of a lot going on in the Hawkeye Nation. Sure, the spring game is coming up and Lickliter officially signed two more recruits (Fuller and Bawinkel), but nothing to get all hip hip hippity about. The North Iowa I-Club is coming up next week, where Lickliter and Brands will be talking.

But, really, I'm mean, there's not a lot going on. I supposed I could hit up the BTN and watch some Big Ten baseball? Maybe?

So, alas, I'm not dead... I actually think I'll go for a walk.



Cheers.

MEN'S BB: Stanley Pringle Found Impersonating Richard Hayden

One of Penn State's main ball handlers was caught, well, handling his balls. Stanley Pringle, JUCO transfer, was allegedly masturbating in a library on the Penn State campus. The library? Pattee Library. It looks like the police department has their hands on the situation. Insert palming joke here. Yeah, yeah, the puns could go on forever, so I'll just make my joke with a fark.

Perhaps Warren can help explain the situation.

MEN'S BB: Anthony Tucker and the Minnetonka Skippers go for the State Championship Tonight

Minnesota Boys Basketball AAAA State Championship

Listen to the Minnetonka vs. Henry Sibley.

Anthony Tucker and the #1 seed Skippers play at 8 PM.
MSBN Channel 1 is broadcasting.

http://www.mnsportsnetwork.com/#msbnchannel1

The game will be televised on Channel 45 in the cities.

If you are outside of the viewing area, you can pay $10 and watch the game online hosted by B2TV.com

Watch Online Here

Good luck to Iowa Hawkeye recruit, Anthony Tucker, and the Skippers of Minnetonka.

On a side note, I think I forgot to mention Tucker was awarded the Metro Player of the Year a few days ago.


Photo courtesy of the Star Tribune.

Tucker has the inside track to the state's Mr. Basketball, given out at the end of April. The metro players will all weigh heavily in the competition, however don't count out Cody Schilling from Ellsworth. Cody just broke the state record for most points by a prep in the state of Minnesota, a record that will likely fall again in a few years to Kevin Noreen (a sophomore from Transitions high school, who has over 1,800 points in just his sophomore year). Cody and Kevin square off at noon in the Class A championship game.

MEN'S BB: Listen Live - Minnetonka Opening Game of 4A Basketball State Tournament

Listen to the Minnetonka vs. B/K.

Anthony Tucker and the #1 seed Skippers play at 10AM.
MSBN Channel 1 is broadcasting.

http://www.mnsportsnetwork.com/#msbnchannel1

If you can't stream, there is a live score ticker at the top of the page.

Go Skippers!

MEN'S BB: Apparently ESPN thinks a 10 Seed Beating a 7 Seed is an Upset

Wha????

(Image is clickable)

MEN'S BB: Can a Triscuit Cracker Box Do Better than Me in the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge? The secret to filling out your bracket.

So just how much luck goes into filling out your bracket come March Madness? Could a monkey do better than most people? Perhaps. How about a Triscuit Cracker Box? (We're talking Original flavor, not that hoidy-toidy, prima donna Crack Pepper and Olive Oil flavor, mind you.) We shall find out.



I wrote the 64 teams on scrap paper (by scrap paper, I mean the torn up envelopes of junk mail sent out by companies wasting their time and money) and then loaded them into the Triscuit Cracker Box.



After the applicable shaking of the box, I blindly chose the 32 winners of the first round.

ADVANCING TO THE SECOND ROUND:


Ouch. UNC out, beaten by the always tough, "Play in Game Winner." Memphis takes it on the chin from the scrappy UT-Arlington team. The only 2 seed to survive the first round was Tennessee. Even more odd was three of the 8 seeds winning, which we know never happens.

Shaking of the box occurred again, at the same point I am sure I shook, as well.

ADVANCING TO THE SWEET SIXTEEN:


That UT-Arlington sure has one hell of a story going on right now. Cinderella story, Outta nowhere. A former sixteen seed, now, about to become the regional champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole! The highest seed on the table is Tennesee, as UCLA and KU go down.

Time to shake again.

ADVANCING TO THE ELITE EIGHT:


Well, there went Tennessee. Damn. Good thing UT-Arlington is still around, though. Phew.

Queue 311, time to get the box all mixed up. Get it? All Mixed Up? Ah, forget it.

ADVANCING TO THE FINAL FOUR:


For the first time in the history of the NCAA Tourney, we have a 13, 12, 8, and 3 seed in the Final Four. How this "luck" thing working out? Hmmmmmmm........

Shaking the box, shaking the box, shaking the box....

ADVANCING TO THE FINALS:


Sun Belt and Mountain West representing! Should be a barnburner in San Antonio.

AND YOUR 2008 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPION PICKED BY THE ONE AND ONLY TRISCUIT CRACKER BOX:


GO CRAZY, HILLTOPPER COUNTRY!!

The rest of the field can only stand by and think what might have been.



Here's the comparison of the brackets (images are clickable for higher resolution):


TRISCUIT



STORMINSPANK (Umm... did I take Cornell over Stanford solely because of Andy Bernard? Not solely, but it had a lot to do with it.)

Other than that, GO VOLS!!! Bruce Pearl for President.

MEN'S BB: A Look at the 2008 NCAA Tournament and My Bubble Team Analysis (RESULTS)

Seeing that Oregon was my last team, they would have been bumped for the SEC Tourney Champs, Georgia. That would have sunk the Bubble Teams to 10, eliminating Oregon.

Looking at my predictions, I went 64/65 in my picks.

ONE INCORRECT PICK: Illinois State was OUT, and Oregon was IN.

Here are my 4 year totals: 255/260 (.981)

MEN'S BB: A Look at the 2008 NCAA Tournament and My Bubble Team Analysis (Final Prediction)

STORMINSPANK'S BRACKETOLOGY

Big Movers this Update -
UP: Arkansas, St. Joe's, Virginia Tech, Temple
DOWN: Ohio State, UMASS

Changes: Ohio State and UMASS are OUT. St. Joe's is IN. Temple winning the A-10 snags another at-large bid.

Updated Look at Bubble Teams for 2008 and Projecting the NCAA Tourney Field

NOTE: IF ILLINOIS WINS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP, OREGON IS OUT.

TEAMS THAT I THINK ARE LOCKS/AUTOBIDS (parenthesis contain total number of bids for the conference; the first number is the locks and the second number is the total bids the conference will get as of right now)

LOCKS

NUMBER ONE SEEDS: NORTH CAROLINA, MEMPHIS, UCLA, TENNESSEE

Am East (1/1) - UMBC
ACC (3/4) - UNC, Duke, Clemson
A. Sun (1/1) - BELMONT
A-10 (2/3) - TEMPLE, Xavier
Big East (7/8) - PITTSBURGH, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UCONN, Marquette, West Virginia
Big Sky (1/1) - PORTLAND STATE
Big South (1/1) - WINTHROP
Big Ten (4/4) - Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State
Big 12 (5/6) - Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor
Big West (1/1) - CAL STATE FULLERTON
CAA (1/1) - GEORGE MASON
CUSA (1/1) - MEMPHIS
Horizon (1/1) - BUTLER
Ivy (1/1) - CORNELL
MAAC (1/1) - SIENNA
MAC (1/1) - KENT STATE
MEAC (1/1) - COPPIN STATE
MVC (1/2) - DRAKE
MWC (2/2) - UNLV, BYU
NEC (1/1) - MOUNT SAINT MARY'S
OVC (1/1) - AUSTIN PEAY
Patriot (1/1) - AMERICAN
Pac-10 (4/6) - UCLA, Washington St., Stanford, USC
SEC (3/5) - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State
Southern (1/1) - DAVIDSON
Southland (1/1) - UT ARLINGTON
Summit (1/1) - ORAL ROBERTS
SWAC (1/1) - MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
Sun Belt (1/2) - WESTERN KENTUCKY
WCC (2/3) - SAN DIEGO, Gonzaga
WAC (1/1) - BOISE STATE

CAP/BOLD TEAMS WON THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BUBBLE TEAMS

So here's who I have on the Bubble...

11 spots are up for grabs

Those teams IN are noted with an asterisk (*).

BUBBLE TEAMS BY CONFERENCE:

ACC:
Miami *
Maryland
Virginia Tech
Florida State

A10:
UMass
Dayton
St. Joe's *
Rhode Island

BIG EAST:
Syracuse
Villanova *

BIG TEN:
Ohio State

BIG XII:
Texas A&M *

CAA:
VCU

C-USA:
UAB

HORIZON:
Cleveland State

MVC:
Illinois State *
Creighton
S. Illinois

MWC:
New Mexico

PAC-10:
Arizona *
Arizona State
Oregon *

SEC:
Arkansas*
Kentucky *
Mississippi
Florida

SUN BELT:
South Alabama *

WCC:
St. Mary's *

RANKING OF BUBBLE TEAMS:

Ranking of the Bubble Teams (As of 3/16/2008)
New Rank	Prev. Rank	+/-	Team	Overall	Conf	RPI	SOS	L10	Top 50 Record	Prev RPI	RPI Diiff
1	3	0	Arkansas*	22-10	9-7	26	20	5-5	6-4	41	-15
2	1	0	Miami *	21-1	8-8	34	41	7-3	3-3	26	8
3	4	0	Texas A&M *	23-10	8-8	41	51	4-6	5-7	44	-3
4	2	0	Kentucky *	18-12	12-4	57	22	7-3	4-6	47	10
5	6	1	Illinois State *	23-9	13-5	33	73	8-2	2-5	33	0
6	6	0	St. Mary's *	24-6	12-2	36	136	7-3	2-3	36	0
7	7	0	South Alabama *	24-6	16-2	37	127	8-2	3-2	34	3
8	16	8	St. Joe's *	21-12	9-7	45	53	5-5	5-6	50	-5
9	10	1	Villanova *	20-12	9-9	51	48	6-4	4-7	51	0
10	11	1	Arizona *	18-14	8-10	38	2	4-6	5-8	39	-1
11	12	0	Oregon *	18-13	9-9	58	37	5-5	4-9	56	2
12	25	12	Virginia Tech	19-13	9-7	53	38	6-4	1-7	59	-6
13	5	-6	Ohio State	19-13	10-8	49	17	4-6	2-10	46	3
14	9	-5	UMass	21-10	10-6	43	71	7-3	1-5	43	0
15	13	-2	Dayton	21-10	8-8	32	34	5-5	4-4	32	0
16	14	-2	Syracuse	19-13	9-9	55	9	4-6	3-8	52	3
17	15	-2	Arizona State	19-12	9-9	83	77	5-5	5-7	81	2
18	17	-1	Florida State	19-14	7-9	59	15	6-4	3-6	62	-3
19	19	0	Creighton	20-10	10-8	47	66	6-4	1-6	49	-2
20	22	2	Mississippi	21-10	7-9	46	64	5-5	5-3	48	-2
21	21	0	VCU	24-7	15-3	54	160	8-2	0-2	55	-1
22	20	-2	S. Illinois	17-14	11-7	62	16	6-4	5-7	61	1
23	23	0	UAB	22-10	12-4	56	95	7-3	1-2	54	2
24	24	0	Florida	21-11	8-8	72	87	3-7	2-7	72	0
25	26	1	New Mexico	24-8	11-5	58	159	8-2	1-4	58	0
26	27	1	Cleveland State	19-12	12-6	64	88	7-3	1-4	64	0

Devan Bawinkel Commits to the Iowa Hawkeyes

It was reported last night in The Clubhouse on Hawkeyenation.com that Devan Bawinkel had committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Today, other sources are confirming the commitment.


(photo courtesy of Scout.com)

Devan Bawinkel - Winnebago, IL (played at Highland CC in Freeport, IL last season and was a three year all-stater at Winnebago) - 6'5", 185 lbs. He boasted a 4.0 GPA in high school to boot.

With the commitment, Todd Lickliter has bolstered the roster with another versatile wing with a great shooting touch.

Bawinkel was a top player in the state of Illinois in the Class of 2006, and finished 4th in the state's Mr. Basketball. Steve Alford recruited Devan, had him in for an unofficial visit and offered him a ride to play for the Hawks at the time. After receiving interests from other schools such as Georgetown, West Virginia, Michigan State, DePaul, Ohio State, Wisconsin, North Carolina State, Butler, Notre Dame, Miami, and plenty more, Bawinkel decided to sign on with John Beilein at West Virginia. Midway into his freshman season, Devan sustained an injury that cost him a substantial amount of time on the court. Fast forward to the end of the season, Beilein heads to Michigan, (t)Huggins comes into West Virginia. To say the new staff and Bawinkel didn't click is an understatement, and Bawinkle decided to go the JUCO route.

Devan just finished up an MVP campaign at Highland Community College (click on the link for a short vid, as well). He has what has been described as a "lightning quick release". He is a very versatile player with a sound knowledge of the game. Here's a look at the company Bawinkel kept in 2005.

He will have two years of eligibility at Iowa.

A recap of this year's recuits:
Matt Gatens - 4 star SG out of Iowa City, IA; #13 SG in the nation (will play 2-3 for Iowa)
Anthony Tucker - 3 star PG/SG out of Minnetonka, MN; #35 PG in the nation (will play 1-3 for Iowa, has shot Mr. Basketball in state of MN and becoming a 4 star)
Andrew Brommer - 2 star PF/C out of Rosemount, MN (will play the 4-5)
Jermain Davis - 3 star SG JUCO out of Plymouth, MN (two years eligibility)
Aaron Fuller - 2 star PF out of Mesa, AZ (under the radar, better than his star ranking)
Devan Bawinkle - 3 star SG JUCO out of Winnebago, IL (two year eligibility)

Iowa still has over a month to sign additional recruits, and I would not be surprised to see Lick and Co. get one more guy into the system... preferably a JUCO big.

MEN'S BB: A Look at the 2008 NCAA Tournament and My Bubble Team Analysis (Friday Update)

STORMINSPANK'S BRACKETOLOGY

Well, Bubble Teams didn't help themselves last night.

Villanova, Dayton, UAB, Arizona State, Arizona, Houston, Florida, Oregon, UMass, Maryland, New Mexico, Texas Tech, Nevada, Rhode Island all lost.

Big Movers this Update -
UP: Florida State, Temple, St. Joe's, Utah State, Villanova
DOWN: Syracuse, UAB, Florida, New Mexico, UMass, Arizona, Oregon, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Maryland, Texas Tech

At the time of the update, though, only two teams have swapped places. Syracuse is out, Villanova is in. Western Kentucky moves off the bubble and into the locks by winning their conf. tourney.

Updated Look at Bubble Teams for 2008 and Projecting the NCAA Tourney Field

TEAMS THAT I THINK ARE LOCKS/AUTOBIDS (parenthesis contain total number of bids for the conference; the first number is the locks and the second number is the total bids the conference will get as of right now)

LOCKS

NUMBER ONE SEEDS: TENNESSEE, NORTH CAROLINA, MEMPHIS, DUKE

Am East (1/1) - UMBC/Hartford
ACC (3/4) - UNC, Duke, Clemson
A. Sun (1/1) - BELMONT
A-10 (1/2) - Xavier
Big East (7/8) - Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UCONN, Marquette, West Virginia, Pittsburgh
Big Sky (1/1) - PORTLAND STATE
Big South (1/1) - WINTHROP
Big Ten (4/5) - Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State
Big 12 (5/6) - Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor
Big West (1/1) - CONF WINNER
CAA (1/1) - GEORGE MASON
CUSA (1/1) - Memphis
Horizon (1/1) - BUTLER
Ivy (1/1) - CORNELL
MAAC (1/1) - SIENNA
MAC (1/1) - CONF WINNER (If Kent St loses, they will be added to the Bubble)
MEAC (1/1) - CONF WINNER
MVC (1/2) - DRAKE
MWC (2/2) - UNLV, BYU
NEC (1/1) - MOUNT SAINT MARY'S
OVC (1/1) - AUSTIN PEAY
Patriot (1/1) - CONF WINNER
Pac-10 (4/6) - UCLA, Washington St., Stanford, USC
SEC (3/5) - Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State
Southern (1/1) - DAVIDSON
Southland (1/1) - CONF WINNER
Summit (1/1) - ORAL ROBERTS
SWAC (1/1) - CONF WINNER
Sun Belt (1/2) - WESTERN KENTUCKY
WCC (2/3) - SAN DIEGO, Gonzaga
WAC (1/1) - CONF WINNER

CAP/BOLD TEAMS WON THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BUBBLE TEAMS

So here's who I have on the Bubble...

12 spots are up for grabs

Those teams IN are noted with an asterisk (*).

BUBBLE TEAMS BY CONFERENCE:

ACC:
Miami *
Maryland
Virginia Tech
Florida State

A10:
UMass *
Dayton
Temple
St. Joe's
Rhode Island

BIG EAST:
Syracuse
Villanova *

BIG TEN:
Ohio State *

BIG XII:
Texas A&M *
Texas Tech

CAA:
VCU

C-USA:
UAB
Houston

HORIZON:
Cleveland State

MVC:
Illinois State *
Creighton
S. Illinois

MWC:
New Mexico

PAC-10:
Arizona *
Arizona State
Oregon *

SEC:
Arkansas*
Kentucky *
Mississippi
Florida

SUN BELT:
South Alabama *

WCC:
St. Mary's *

WAC:
Utah State
Nevada

RANKING OF BUBBLE TEAMS:

Ranking of the Bubble Teams (As of 3/14/2008)
New Rank	Prev. Rank	+/-	Team	Overall	Conf	RPI	SOS	L10	Top 50 Record	Prev RPI	RPI Diiff
1	1	0	Miami *	21-9	8-8	26	32	7-3	3-3	27	-1
2	2	0	Kentucky *	18-11	12-4	47	13	8-2	4-7	48	-1
3	3	0	Arkansas*	20-10	9-7	41	42	5-5	4-5	42	-1
4	6	2	Texas A&M *	22-9	8-8	44	58	5-5	4-6	47	-3
5	7	2	Ohio State *	19-12	10-8	46	17	4-6	2-9	49	-3
6	9	3	Illinois State *	23-9	13-5	33	72	8-2	2-5	35	-2
7	11	4	St. Mary's *	24-6	12-2	36	139	7-3	2-3	38	-2
8	12	4	South Alabama *	24-6	16-2	34	125	8-2	3-2	37	-3
9	4	-5	UMass *	21-10	10-6	43	64	7-3	1-4	40	3
10	13	3	Villanova *	20-12	9-9	51	43	6-4	3-7	56	-5
11	5	-6	Arizona *	18-14	8-10	39	2	4-6	5-8	29	10
12	8	-4	Oregon *	18-13	9-9	56	22	5-5	4-9	53	3
13	14	1	Dayton	21-10	8-8	32	29	5-5	3-4	34	-2
14	10	-4	Syracuse	19-13	9-9	52	9	4-6	3-8	46	6
15	15	0	Arizona State	19-12	9-9	81	71	5-5	5-7	76	5
16	22	6	St. Joe's	20-11	9-7	50	62	5-5	3-4	55	-5
17	27	10	Florida State	19-13	7-9	62	23	6-4	3-5	64	-2
18	25	7	Temple	19-12	11-5	60	51	8-2	3-4	60	0
19	18	-1	Creighton	20-10	10-8	49	69	6-4	1-6	51	-2
20	20	0	S. Illinois	17-14	11-7	61	12	6-4	5-7	62	-1
21	24	3	VCU	24-7	15-3	55	159	8-2	0-2	54	1
22	17	-5	Mississippi	21-10	7-9	48	65	5-5	5-4	43	5
23	19	-4	UAB	22-10	12-4	54	92	7-3	1-2	50	4
24	21	-3	Florida	21-11	8-8	72	86	3-7	2-8	65	7
25	26	1	Virginia Tech	18-12	9-7	59	52	6-4	0-6	57	2
26	23	-3	New Mexico	24-8	11-5	58	159	8-2	1-4	52	6
27	31	4	Cleveland State	19-12	12-6	64	88	7-3	1-4	71	-7
28	33	5	Utah State	23-9	12-4	67	177	7-3	0-1	72	-5
29	34	5	Nevada	20-10	12-4	71	143	8-2	0-2	77	-6
30	32	2	Houston	22-9	11-5	78	137	5-5	1-4	66	12
31	30	-1	Rhode Island	21-11	7-9	77	104	2-8	1-5	67	10
32	29	-3	Maryland	18-14	8-8	82	25	4-6	1-5	69	13
33	28	-5	Texas Tech	15-15	7-9	65	4	4-6	4-9	59	6

All the losses that happened yesterday really help teams like S. Alabama, St. Mary's, VCU, and Illinois St. They moved up without even playing.