The somewhat big dance

Can you smell that? I'm not sure what it is. It might be the smell of March Madness, but more likely it's the smell of the grotesque man across the aisle from Tall-boy and I as we ride the bus from Boston to Albany, only to have to drive another 2 hours to Binghamton. The things that we go through to enjoy basketball...

To say that I'm excited about this year's tournament is a hell of an understatement. First of all, yes, there will be the required camelback full of Southern Comfort, and there will be the continuous binge-drinking, hangovers to deal with, fast food for every meal, a loss of voice after cheering for 7 games, and most likely we will be sleeping in Tall-boy's car both nights.

All that stuff is a given.

What I'm truly excited about is the basketball. This tournament is going to be unlike any tournament in the past 3 years. It's literally anyone's tournament. In my past experiences, it's usually been BU, Vermont, and Northeastern. Now it's everyone.

There's no doubt that we'll see some amazing basketball this weekend. Hopefully you'll be able to make it. If not, I feel sorry for you.

And I know that on the ride back to Albany on Sunday, when Tall-boy and I are extremely hungover, sick of fast food, sleep deprived, with no voice left, and smelling like shit from not showering all weekend, I'll say that the trip was worth it whether the Terriers win or lose.

But hopefully we won't smell as bad as this guy across the aisle.

Tall-Boy's (Mostly Inaccurate) Picks

Play-In Game
#8 UMBC 78 #9 Stony Brook 58
I saw both of these teams once this year - UMBC when they beat BU in overtime in Baltimore, and Stony Brook when they were destroyed by the nation's #6 team GW. Obviously, UMBC was more impressive, and they've had some good victories, especially over BU and Binghamton. This game will be a good way to warm up for the drinking of the rest of the weekend.

Quarterfinals
#2 Binghamton 67 #7 Maine 59
Maine is a pretty good 7 seed, but Binghamton annihilated them twice during the regular season. Maine's problem is they don't have an imposing offensive force - they have a couple guards who will chuck up some threes, and even make some of them, but their inside presence is lacking.

#3 Boston U 51 #6 Vermont 50
This is going to be a barn-burner no matter who wins. But I'll take the team on a 3-game winning streak over the team who has lost 4 in a row. The inside and hopefully outside attack will be enough for BU to overcome Trimboli by himself.

#8 UMBC 77 #1 Albany 72
Yep, you read it right: Albany is following the lead of the 03-04 Terriers and going down in the first round. As I wrote before, UMBC is capable of the big upset. If their two big guys, Zito and Housman, start feeling it, they're tough to stop. The key for them will be shutting down UA shooters like Jamar WIlson and Jason SIggers. The Danes are going home early in what will amount to a road game for them.

#5 New Hampshire 66 #4 Hartford 60
Hartford lives and dies by the shooting of Aaron Cook. Kenny Adeleke will get his 20 points and 15 rebounds, but the rest of the supporting cast, with the exception of emerging freshman Paris Carter, is extremely suspect. UNH's NCAA-leading free throw shooting will help them win close games that should be won by the opposition.

Semifinals
#3 Boston U 56 #2 Binghamton 53
I realize that BU got stomped a few weeks ago in the same arena by 20+ points. But Dennis Wolff would not let that happen twice in one season, especially to a team that is not much more talented than BU is (if at all). He will learn from the game tape, and put together a defense that will shut down Andre Heard and the rest of the Catbears.

#5 New Hampshire 80 #8 UMBC 45
This is where UMBC's cinderella run ends. They'll be tired after playing their third game in 3 days, and run out of gas against a UNH team that features some athletic players who can hit threes as well as play the post. It's going to be a blowout of epic proportions (there's got to be one in every tournament!)

Finals
#3 Boston U 69 #5 New Hampshire 65
This wouldn't be a basketball blog without a bit of rampant homerism. Yes, it could happen - I think BU is entering the tournament at the right time. They're winning games and finding their offensive stroke, while continuing their trademark defensive dominance. During the season, the home team won both games in blowout fashion, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in a neutral setting. I think BU wins it and heads straight to the play-in game.

This is a more wide-open tournament that any in recent memory, and anything can happen. So this is what I think will happen (and no I haven't started drinking yet).

Round Three

We were able to finish the regular season strong, and wound up with third place in the conference. Somehow, Dennis Wolff's teams figure out a way to come out near the top at the end of the year. Despite losing our top three scorers, starting the year with half our team never seeing a minute of D-I action, and suffering through slumps as internal strife depleted our roster, BU comes out with a respectable 9-7 effort.

Unfortunately, all that effort so far has landed us a date with a tough and surprising Vermont squad that took a last second shot and an overtime to defeat this year. It's probably the toughest draw BU could have gotten in the first round, aside from the top 2 teams. Even though we lost to UNH, Maine and UMBC once each, they don't scare me as much as Vermont does.

The key to their team is freshman point guard Mike Trimboli, but he was held largely in check last time we played them. The other piece we need to stop is URI reject Chris Holm - the big guy had a couple great games against us this year. Vermont's other players of note, Martin Klimes and Kyle Cieplicki, mainly just suck, although they are the most experienced players on the team and could come through in the clutch. A big thing going against UVM is their free throw shooting, which is beyond horrible, worse even than BU -- although that has been an area of improvement for the Terriers throughout the year.

One thing is for sure: if this game is anything like the first two meetings, the EMT's better bring the defibrillator to revive me after the game.

MARCH MADNESS

It's all about the next couple days. All the blood, sweat and tears that went into the 2005-06 season come down to this.

We're still trying to game-plan how to blog this thing. Between having no internet connection, sleeping in our car, and being drunk off our asses, it might be tough to get anything written. But damn it we're going to try.

We head down to Binghamton today, in order to catch the 8/9 seed play-in game. This is traditionally the most fun part of the tournament, since BU is rarely involved and we can just party.

So stay tuned: we'll be back with more dispatches from the bus or car ride (and we can't promise no drunk postings this weekend).