Friday: Football First, Champions All Weekend

Bret Bielema loves his used quarterbacks

It's a new year, so do you know what that means? A new old quarterback for Wisconsin. While most of us are searching for new quarterbacks to join our team, Bert Bielema, for the second year in a row, has picked up a used quarterback. Of course, it worked for Bielema and the Badgers in the first year as Russell Wilson proved to be no lemon, leading Wisconsin to a Big Ten Championship and the Rose Bowl. Bielema will hope that Danny O'Brien, who is transferring from Maryland, can have the same sort of impact that Wilson did. He could very well be a lemon; we hear Randy Edsall drives his players hard.

O'Brien won't be the only player transferring out of the Maryland program this year; Avery Graham will also be leaving the program. Randy Edsall just took over the program last year, so some attrition should have been expected. The Terps are having some crazy attrition under Edsall with 13 players leaving the program in the last four months. Additionally, with the way Edsall left things at Connecticut, you have to have some concerns about the way things are going if you're a Maryland fan. The Terrapins went 2-10 with a 1-7 Conference record in Edsall's first season. As bad as he's been, he still managed to bring in some top in-state talent. This suggests that the Edsall era could turn around, but it seems like things are headed for a train wreck finish.

In a week with two Championships to be awarded, I still started with football. Yeah, I miss it. A lot.

There isn't much other news, considering it's Spring Practice and all. No, I don't consider the new Big East schedule news. They might still be an AQ Conference, but that doesn't mean I'm going to treat them like one! Slightly bigger news is that the MAC released their conference schedule. I'm excited because the MAC always plays games during the week, allowing us to enjoy college football beyond Saturday.

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Before we get into the Frozen Four, I just wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate Shawn Hunwick on his ATO contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus seems to be where goaltenders go to die, so be careful. Also, Columbus, if you do play Hunwick, you're never going to take him out. That's just kind of the way it works. Ask the Children of Yost. They'll tell you all about it.

Hunwick is not the only one signing a pro-deal, as this is the time where the good NCAA teams' season ends, many seniors are jumping to the NHL. Spencer Abbott, Torey Krug, and Reilly Smith are a few of the many others who've made the leap. Abbott and Krug, like Hunwick, were undrafted free agents and could sign with any team. This is standard operating procedure following the season, and usually, these seniors have already had the credits to graduate, so there's no conflict in that regard. These guys are fulfilling their dreams, so congratulations to them.

The four teams that are still in the hunt will be heading to Tampa this weekend. As I said in my last post, the primary storylines will be focused on a David and Goliath final. For example, Union doesn't even offer scholarship aid for their athletes:

The Dutchmen hope to become the first non-Ivy, non-scholarship squad to hoist the trophy, and ultimately it’s a perfect combination of hard work, chemistry and determination by both staff and skaters alike that has allowed Union to come this far.

Union not only has to get talented players, but talented players who can pay. That's a huge difference from the big schools like Michigan, Notre Dame, and Minnesota that can offer scholarships to talented players. Furthermore, Union, right or wrong, doesn't have the same academic reputation that the Ivy League schools do, so there's a lot that the school has to contest with. It's a great story. If you decide to root for Union, the player to watch out for is #27 Jeremy Welsh. He's an undrafted free agent (though only a junior) and he was scouted by the likes of the Bruins and Blackhawks in the first round of the tournament.

Of course, the other underdog is Ferris State, who have don't have a single NHL player on their roster. Despite this, they won the CCHA regular season title over several teams that are littered with NHL talent. Ferris is a player driven team:

"College hockey has always thrived with the small schools," Daniels said. "It's such a team sport. You can have your star athletes, but if you have a roster full of good players, really good kids, all schools can be successful. You don't have to be a mega school in order to win. 

"We felt we were going to have a good team this year, but certainly not to this level," Daniels said. "Realistically, by the time we hit Christmas, the team was so self-corrective, such a mature group of kids, they just take it in stride much more than people realize. It got to a point in the second half of the year, as coaches we became more chaperones. The identity is it is a player-driven group, a player-driven team."

The talent isn't there, but the spirit is unquestionable. No NHL players. Compare that with a team like Michigan which had 12 players that have been drafted by the NHL. That is a huge difference. Of all the teams to represent the CCHA in the Frozen Four, they are the one. It's a great story.

On the other side of the bracket, you have two college hockey giants. Boston College and Minnesota have 9 NCAA Championships between them. They are two of the biggest programs in college hockey. They're household names. It's highly likely that they winner will be a favorite in the Final. It has been a while since Minnesota has been in the Frozen Four though:

"They understand what the expectations are of the program and they want to live up to those," Lucia said. "They want to, during their time here, be able to add to the tradition. The kids come here because of the tradition, but they want to leave here having added to the tradition."

This is more an opportunity to return to glory than an underdog story though. Minnesota's program has so much mystique and history that  it can get the top players. While they might have a deeper history than BC, the Eagles' recent success, including 3 in the last 15 years, has given the program the same stature. As much as I hate to admit it (grew up a BU Terriers fan), the Eagles have had the best team all season and are the hottest team in the tournament. They are the favorites, and so far they've been dominant in the tournament:

“It’s an interesting dynamic to have one team from each league,’’ said BC coach Jerry York, whose Eagles have won 17 straight. “It’s happened before but it’s certainly exciting. Hey, you can’t go down to Best Buy and just buy a ticket. You have to earn your way here. 

“The (Northeast) region was a really hard climb for us,” said York, whose Eagles handed Air Force its first shutout loss, 2-0, before blanking defending champion Minnesota-Duluth, 4-0, in a hard-hitting affair. “The hardest thing for a team to do at this time of year is take away another team’s sticks. It’s hard to do.”

Their opponents have yet to score. They're on a 17 game winning streak. They won the Beanpot. They won the Hockey East tournament. The Eagles aren't good; they're great. They're the best team in the country and they have everything going for them. I'd be surprised if they didn't win it all, giving Jerry York's 5th National Championship and his 4th with the Eagles.

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Unlike the Frozen Four, the Final Four features huge programs and therefore, you really have nothing to go off of in rooting interests. I am really interested in the battle of Kentucky. It's kind of a big deal. Not convinced? The biggest sports arena in the state played party lines, representing both schools:

Churchill Downs representing both Kentucky and Louisville.

The Battle of Kentucky is just one of the angles. It is important though:

They are mercenaries, but they are awfully talented. There are a few players that will be first round picks. Anthony Davis is being hyped as the top overall pick. While many are speculating that they could beat a NBA team, Coach John Calipari is quick to shoot down those claims:

“This team could not beat one N.B.A. team,” he said definitively Thursday at a pre-Final Four news conference. “Not one. The worst team in the league we could not beat.”

This might be more the case of a coach wanting his team to stay humble, to stay focused. The NBA questions also really draws focus on Kentucky's one and done players; players who come to school for one year before they go pro. It brings to question the practice of bringing these players in. Obviously, the rabid win-at-all-costs Kentucky fanbase doesn't care. It just doesn't seem like a college program.

They are unselfish and they play as a team though:

The idea to buy into what Calipari wanted from his team started back in October. From the first practice, the quartet of five-star freshmen and the three returning starters meshed perfectly. Each player was a star on his high school team. But each player had to take a back seat to the team this season, putting his NBA prospects aside and buying into the idea of winning a national championship.

Does that sound familiar at all? Personally, that description sounds like the Fab Five. They were five highly touted freshmen who were criticized for everything besides their play. Everyone thought they were undisciplined, selfish, and any other criticism you can think of. In actuality, they were a well oiled machine that moved the ball around unselfishly and played with style and discipline. They had swagger. Kentucky has been hyped like the Fab Five this year.

I don't think there's any Duke or North Carolina type team to stop them.

I don't think Louisville is the team to stop them. They've been a nice story and they've had a nice run which has created some great story lines for this game, but they're not good enough to hang with Kentucky. It'll be up to the winner of the Ohio State-Kansas game to take down might Kentucky.

I'll be rooting for Kansas. This may seem obvious considering my obligatory dislike for Ohio State, but I'm rooting for the Jayhawks because of Thomas Robinson. There are few NCAA players who've been through as much as Robinson:

How could he? It was last year, on Jan. 21, 2011, that Robinson's cellphone famously buzzed with a voice mail from his then-seven-year-old sister, Jayla, back home in Washington, D.C. A return call confirmed the worst: their mother, Lisa, had died late that night of an apparent heart attack. A single mom, Lisa was just 43. In the six weeks prior, the Robinson siblings had already lost their maternal grandmother and their maternal grandfather. Soon Kansas coaches, teammates and four teammates' mothers converged upon that living room in Robinson and Johnson's two-bedroom suite. The whole scene, Kansas coach Bill Self would say, "was the saddest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Robinson is a player you want to succeed. They're the team I'll root for this weekend if I get the chance to watch the action this weekend. Ohio State is probably one of the hottest teams in the country and they'll be a game opponent if they have to face Kentucky as well. Sullinger has been phenomenal in the tournament as have Craft, Thomas, and Buford. If they're clicking on all cylinders, they're as hard to beat as anyone in the country. Thad Matta has done a great job with that program.

It should be a great Final Four.

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Enjoy the weekend everyone. There's a lot to do and a lot to see. There are surely some great games to watch and there will be a lot to talk about on Monday. I should have something for you then.

Weekend Wrap: Taking Tampa and New Orleans by Storm

Stevie might be going to Tampa, but I won't be, nor will my Michigan Wolverines. Michigan lost 3-2 to Cornell in OT on Friday night. Out of disappointing moments, you have to find the good. Shawn Hunwick is one of the classiest players there is:

So he crouched down and grabbed that puck and put it in his glove. For once, he would skate off with it. 

He made toward the benches, toward his teammates, toward his friends. They said little. 

As they patted him on the back, he skated on until he arrived not as his bench, but at the bench next to it, where he found a Cornell assistant coach. 

For the last time, Hunwick took the puck out of his glove, and he handed it to the coach whose team had just defeated him. It was their goal, not his, and he wanted them to have it.

I always find that I'm more disappointed because the players didn't get a chance to win than I am for my own interests or my own school. They're the ones that make the program so special. This year was no exception. With the heartbreak of last season, I really wanted Hunwick, Luke Glendening, David Wohlberg, and Greg Pateryn to get their chance to shine. They're the seniors. They're the ones that
 make it all possible. I was more disappointed for them than I was for myself.

They had great careers and I wish them the best in their future endeavors.

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The Frozen Four competitors are BC, Minnesota, Ferris State, and Union. The bracket is set up nicely for a David and Goliath final as traditional powers BC and Minnesota face off in one semi and Ferris State and Union in the other. I've got to pull for the winner of Ferris and Union because both of those schools have never won a title. It would be an incredible story. BC would be tough because I'd never hear the end of it from BC fans, but they do have the best program in the country right now. Minnesota would also be tough as the BTHC is on the other side of the horizon.

It should provide for some awesome hockey.

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The Elite Eight wrapped up last night, and we have our Final Four competitors. Sunday, Kentucky demolished Baylor with alley oops and just generally being the most talented team in the country, and Kansas outlasted UNC to book the last spot in New Orleans. They'll be joined by Ohio State and Louisville who booked their places on Saturday.

All I can say is I'm scared for New Orleans.

While I don't think Buckeye basketball fans are nearly as bad as Buckeye football fans, I'm not sold on them not being bad. Kansas fans are Kansas fans and we should expect that a lot of them will travel to NOLA. Oh, and they're going to be joined by the entire state of Kentucky. Yeah, that Kentucky. It's the perfect recipe for disaster.

Regardless of my concerns for the city, it should be a great Final Four with four big time basketball programs. Despite John Calipari's history of failure in the Final Four, his team will be the favorites in New Orleans. The talent on that team is undeniable, but Calipari will remain one of the big stories:

Calipari almost has to return to Lexington with a national championship. If he doesn't, fairly or unfairly, the whispers will become shouts: His one-and-dones can't get it done … he needs to recruit players who aren't infatuated with the NBA … he can't win the big one.

The way Calipari runs his program is controversial from an ethical stand point so far as how we view amateur athletics. Many of his players are like mercenaries, using Kentucky as a stage to feature for the NBA draft and nothing more. There's no passion for Kentucky. It's about the future, not the present. There will be basketball tomorrow if they don't win. There will be money to play basketball to boot.

If it isn't about Calipari, it will be about Calipari versus Pitino:

John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats and Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals don’t meet until Saturday in the Final Four, but the signs are evident that this isn’t just the latest flare-up of their long-simmering rivalry, or even just an historic, high-stakes meeting between two programs bitterly opposed to each other.

That, alone, will make this one of the most anticipated, heated and intense college basketball games ever played.

There is going to be a lot of hype going into that game. The game itself will either be really interesting or a bore. Kentucky is the best team in the country. Louisville came out of nowhere to win the Big East Tournament and to make this run. I've always said that Pitino is one of the best coaches in the tournament. He's proven it this year. He could prove his worth further with a win over Big Blue.

The other game is a rematch between Ohio State and Kansas from earlier this year. The big story will be the fact that Jared Sullinger is healthy as he was missing from the first game which the Jayhawks took in Lawrence back in December. Bill Self knows it will be a big challenge:

"We caught a break the first time when Jared didn't play, and we were kind of finding ourselves," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We knew they were a team that could make a run and win a national championship. They have so many pieces that are so good. It starts with Jared."

Sullinger, for his part, knows that the burden of being the difference will be on him:

"At the end of the day [Matta] told me this team goes as I go and just play my game," Sullinger said on Feb. 28, the day before he scored the game-winning basket in the final seconds at Northwestern. "As long as I play and show emotion and play with energy, this team should be where we were when we were beating teams by 15-plus points. 

"I know I've probably been dogged by a lot of people who are saying I'm not as good as I used to be. But at the end of the day, it's not about what they think, it's about how we can win basketball games."

He certainly has the talent to do it as do his teammates. I'm actually really interested in that game. It should be one of the best of the year. I have Kentucky and Kansas in my Championship game, so that's who I think will see the finals, but that's not to say we won't see two entertaining games.

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ON A META-NOTE: I'll be trying to have a more regular posting schedule, shooting for a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule with possible specialty posts in between.