Many of you were extremely turned off the NBA team in Cleveland after Thursday night’s debacle in Miami. Things seem to hit rock bottom in Saturday’s night blowout loss to lowly Minnesota. While all this was going on, a juggernaut is going unnoticed just up Carnegie Ave.

Ladies and gentleman, there is only one 10-0 team in all of Division I college basketball right now. That would be the Cleveland State Vikings.

Head Coach Gary Waters is doing it again. Last year pre-league play, Waters admittedly over-scheduled his team who lost four Seniors that helped win the Horizon League Tournament and knocked off Wake Forest in the NCAA first round.  He loaded up with the likes of West Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas State (three elite eight teams), Ohio State, and Virginia. It backfired as the young team started very slowly.

This season, Waters loaded up with quality mid-majors – Akron (MAC) , Kent State (MAC) , St. Bonaventure (A-10), Iona (MAAC), and Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt). Big boys West Virginia and South Florida are coming in the next couple of weeks, but the Horizon League season started last week with the dreaded Wisconsin two-step. The Vikings, picked to finish third by the coaches in the preseason, took both road games with relative ease to move to a perfect 10-0, 2-0 in the league.

While the Heat were abusing the Cavs, the Vikings were picking apart Green Bay the Resch Center. Norris Cole, a three-year starter and all-Horizon League performer, led all scorers with 26 points. While he struggled from the floor (5-12), his aggressive dribble drives got him to the line 16 times, where he knocked down 15. Meanwhile, the Vikings, not known for their three-point shooting, were a sizzling 10-14 from deep. Tre Harmon hit four of his five attempts. It wasn’t pretty, but the three pointers bailed them out. It was the first time in four years the Vikings have won in Green Bay.

“That was an ugly game, a real ugly game that lasted too long with too many fouls called,” Waters said. “It was really what I call an interrupted game. No flow in the game. I see 52 percent [shooting], and I can’t complain. The streak continues.”

So on to Milwaukee they went and this time, they put it all together. Four Vikings were in double figures in the 82-59 blowout road win. Jeremy Montgomery, another veteran, hit five threes on his way to 20 points. Charlie Woods’s 10 off the bench were a key as Waters crew moved to 10-0. Like they did two nights earlier in Green Bay, the Vikes were on fire from deep, hitting a whopping 14 triples in 22 attempts (63%). Defensively, they swarmed UW-Milwaukee all night and held them to 29% from the field. Waters was beaming afterwards.

“Last year, we were playing with a lot of young kids, and they didn’t understand the defensive philosophy,” he said. “We know that you win ballgames by playing defense. We said that we’re going to come into these places and make them a defensive game.”

Waters is right. This team is now a veteran group that has jelled. Guys like Aaron Pogue, Cole, Harmon, and Montgomery all were starters last year. Woods is a red-shirt sophomore. Tim Kamczyc, the fifth starter, was a key role player as well. Sixth man Josh McCoy is in his third year with the program, and Joe Latsas is a red-shirt junior. Don’t forget three-year starter D’Aundray Brown hasn’t played in a game yet. The 6’5 Senior has been out with a torn ligament in his finger.

With the Cavaliers is the tank, why not give some love to the college team in town? The Butler run to the title game shows that anything is possible. Nobody has played Butler tougher in the past three years than Cleveland State. Expect the two, along with Detroit, to battle all year for the Horizon League title. And do yourself a favor, get down to the Wolstein Center and support this team. They deserve it.

Since I first got heavily into the NCAA Basketball Tournament in March of 1985, I’ve been hooked on the college game. Whether it be Derrick Coleman at Syracuse, Jerome Lane at Pitt, or the Arkansas teams of Corliss Williamson and Scottie Thurman, I’ve always been in the tank for college basketball.

I’ve never been an pro guy, and in the past 10-12 years, the NBA has severely diluted the talent pool of the college game, which is essentially its minor league (sorry, D-League fans).

First it was the mass exodus of the prep-to-pros kids. Its obviously worked out great for guys like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. But for every KG, there was Korleone Young. For every Kobe, there was Leon Smith. For every LBJ, there was Desagana Diop (aka Lasagna Flop). The list goes on and on.

In attempts to improve both the college and pro games, the NBA adopted a 19-year old age limit to enter the draft (or your high school graduating class must be a full year out of school). That hasn’t worked either. Instead of seeing a jump from high school to the pros, its now the become the “one and done” routine. Sure, its great that we got to see Kevin Durant dominate at Texas, or John Wall run wild at Kentucky, or Michael Beasley become an All-American at Kansas State (all three were top three NBA draft picks) for one year. But it has made a mockery of the term “student-athlete.”

In reality, all a kid like Wall – who never would have gone to college if not for the “one and done” rule – has to do is stay eligible through one semester of college. As long as his grades stay afloat through December, he can finish out the season and not attend a single class the rest of the year. Its hurt the college game because stars don’t stick around longer than one year, causing a major shift in recruiting. The game has never been dirtier.

Kentucky, one of the true blue-blood programs in the game, has hired uber-sleeze John Calipari, who recruits at the absolute highest level. Its great for the one and done kids like Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, but each year, he is seemingly replacing his entire core. If I were a Kentucky fan, this would seem great, but in reality, I would only care about my team winning titles, not becoming a one-year NBA breeding ground. Calipari watched as four of his Freshman left for the NBA – Wall was the #1 pick and is now in Washington. Cousins went #5 to Sacramento, combo Guard Eric Bledsoe went to the Clippers at #18, and Daniel Orton – who had no business going pro – got drafted 29th by the Orlando Magic as a project. Wall and Cousins are NBA players right now. Bledsoe and Orton both should have stayed at Kentucky another year to develop further.

Meanwhile, kids like Orton and BJ Mullins (former Buckeye who left after one year) are languishing on the inactive list while taking the jobs of more deserving veteran players. How is this development? Imagine if the Buckeyes would have had a sophomore version of Mullins in the post last year? He is exactly what was missing from a team that was a #2 seed in the Tournament.

And speaking of the Buckeyes, their season opens with preseason rankings as high as #4 in the country, despite losing Player of the Year Evan Turner to the NBA. They return four starters – Cleveland natives  Dallas Lauderdale (Solon) and David Lighty (VA-SJ) up front, as well as guards William Buford and Jon Diebler. Throw in two McDonalds All-Americans Jared Sullinger (the #1 big man in the class of 2010) and Deshaun Thomas, and the Buckeyes are primed for another big year under Thad Matta.

In this town, we need winners to get behind, and Matta seems to produce quality teams year after year. His hiring has been nothing short of gold for the people in Columbus. He recruits with the best of them and has been consistently at the top of the Big Ten since his arrival seven years ago. Yet, nobody seems to care.

In our own city, we have a little juggernaut playing in the Wolstein Center. Cleveland State has rejuvenated its basketball program under fifth-year coach Gary Waters. Two years ago, the Vikings made their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the Mouse McFadden-led team of 1986. The Vikes upset fourth-seeded Wake Forest with relative ease 84-69. That senior-laden team put the Vikings back on the basketball map.

The hope was that the success would capture the imagination of local college basketball fans. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly translate. Clearly, more people are aware of the Vikings now, but it just may be that this town is not a college hoops hotbed.

CSU should again battle for the Horizon League championship this season with Butler – last year’s NCAA runner-up – and Detroit. They return all five starters from last season. Three-year starters Norris Cole and Tre Harmon are on the perimeter, along with D’Aundrey Brown and Jeremy Montgomery – two key role players from the Tournament team two years ago. Center Aaron Pogue, if he can stay out of foul trouble, could be a force in the paint.

In a down economy, taking your family to a Cleveland State game is very affordable and unlike in years past, a quality product. I for one, will be taking my three-year old son to several games this year. Its a solid Saturday afternoon winter activity.

With the Cavaliers clearly not the same and the Browns heading for another playoff-less season, why not tune into some Ohio State or Cleveland State basketball this winter? Give it a shot.

This is part two in our ten-part series chronicling the top 10 moments/stories in Cleveland sports during the 2009 Calendar year. We started yesterday with The Indians 10 run comeback win over Tampa Bay, and we will continue with today’s selection.

#9 Cleveland State’s run to the NCAA Tournament and their upset over fourth seeded Wake Forest

1986 was a long, long time ago for followers of the Cleveland State basketball program. The success of Kevin Mackey’s “Run and Stun” teams produced a new building in the Convocation Center, now known as the Wolstein Center. The thought was that the program would take off after the run of great teams that always competed for the AMCU-8 title. However, that success never sustained.

Cleveland State had become an after-thought under Mike Boyd, Rollie Massimino, and Mike Garland. When former Kent State and Rutgers head coach Gary Waters took over, he vowed to have the Vikings back at the top of the Horizon League. He followed through on his promise in 2009.

The first signs that Waters’s veteran team was something special was when they went into the Carrier Dome and led the then-11th ranked Syracuse Orange the majority of the game. Cedric Jackson’s three-quarter court heave at the buzzer stunned the Cuse and gave the Vikes a 72-69 win. They took that win and ran with it. CSU catapulted to the top of their conference, battling nationally ranked Butler for H-League supremacy.

Twice the Vikings were locked in tight games with Butler during the regular season. Twice they lost. In the first meeting in Cleveland, CSU held a one point lead with five seconds to go, a great defensive stand was ruined when Butler’s Zach Hahn grabbed a loose ball and hit a three at the buzzer to beat the Vikings 50-48. In the return match in Indy, again, the Vikings battled to the end. They led 56-54 with less than a minute remaining, but couldn’t hang on, losing to the 25-4 Bulldogs 58-56. A Norris Cole three for the win rimmed out, but Waters and his gritty team knew they would get a third shot at Butler in the Horizon League tournament.

Sure enough, the top two seeds, Butler and Cleveland State, would meet again in the championship game with an NCAA Tournament bid on the line for the Vikes. The Bulldogs were already a lock. CSU got their by winning three games in five nights against Detroit, UIC, and Green Bay. The title game was played on the Bulldogs home floor of Hinkle Fieldhouse. While Butler was led by conference Player of the Year Matt Howard and Freshman of the year Gordon Hayward, the gritty, lunch-pail Vikings were a true “team.”

Like the first two games, the Vikings and Bulldogs were neck and neck with Butler leading 32-28 at the half. During the break, the Vikes turned up the intensity. As I wrote the next day:

After trailing for most of the first 30 minutes, Tournament MVP Cedric Jackson hit one of his four threes to put the Vikings ahead for good and send them to their first NCAA Tournament in 23 years. They did it in typical Cleveland State fashion under the direction of Waters;  stingy defense and quality offensive possessions.Jackson put on perhaps his best performance of his Viking career. The senior St. John’s transfer played all 40 minutes and controlled the game on both ends. He led all scorers with 19 points, dished out eight assists, and grabbed seven boards. His back to back threes with CSU down six were a part of an 8-0 which tied the score at 28 late in the first half. You could see the calm, cool, play of a Senior who knew this was his last shot at the big dance. “We wanted to be aggressive and I had to step up. It feels so good,” said Cedric after the game.

More….

Norris Cole’s perfect reading of the passing lanes gave Cleveland State a shot to ice the game at the line with 14 seconds left up two. Cole split a pair at the line, giving Butler one last shot to send the game to OT.That one last shot turned into three. Mack misfired on a contested three, but Hayward grabbed the offensive board. He trey attempt was off the mark as well, but Shawn Vanzant was their to grab the rebound, he made a third attempt to tie the game, but the ball slipped from his hands as the clock hit zero.The Vikings rushed the floor in jubilation.

Coach Gary Waters threw his arms to the sky in celebration. Nobody deserved this one more than he did. It has taken him just three seasons to turn a dead program into an NCAA Tournament team. He has worked so hard to give his players the reasons to believe. They came through for him and he came through for them.

Said a proud Waters after the game: “These guys are a bunch of fighters and they persevered.”

The Vikings were a team that nobody wanted to draw in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They soon enough would show the country why. The senior-laden crew of Jackson, J’Nathan Bullock, George Tandy, and  Chris Moore, along with Trey Harmon, Cole, and Jeremy Montgomery were given a 13 seed in the Midwest. They would get the #4 seed and uber-athletic Wake Forest Demon Deacons, led by All-American guard Jeff Teague and freshman phenom Al-Farouq Aminu.

While the Deacons had the ACC pedigree with athletes galore, they were ill-prepared for the precision and strength of the undersized CSU Vikings. Led by the Cole (22 points) and Bullock (21 points) duo on the offensive end and the overall game of Jackson (19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), the Vikes throttled Wake Forest 84-69 in Miami in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score may dictate. It was a pure, unadulterated blow out of a team with Final Four aspirations. That didn’t matter to Waters’s bunch.

“We believed from the start of the game that we could play with this team,” Cole said.

“I’m sorry to a lot of people that we broke their brackets,” Tandy said. “But we had a lot of confidence. We were prepared.”

“We had to hit them early in order to be in that game,” Waters said. “We surprised them. It took them a while to realize what was occurring out there, and then it became a ballgame.”

In the end, it was their finest hour as they would lose to Arizona two days later. But this team put Cleveland State basketball back on the map and made the city proud.

In other local college news that is worth a mention in 2009, the Akron Zips made their first NCAA Basketball Tournament since 1986, and the Akron men’s soccer team made it all the way to the national championship game, losing to Virginia on penalty kicks.

Earlier today, Rick outlined the players that the Browns have added to their rookie camp post-draft.  The names on the list are predominantly of the defensive variety, as the team looks to find a diamond in the rough.

With Eric Mangini’s former team a little light on tight ends, they added three of them as rookie free agents.  One that will get a crack at the next level: CSU’s J’Nathan Bullock.  Per the New Jersey Star Ledger:

Cleveland State basketball star J’Nathan Bullock, a 6-5, 240-pound power forward who averaged 15.2 points and 7.1 rebounds, both team-highs, last season while leading the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament. He was a football standout at Flint Northern High.

No less than 13 NFL teams attended his Pro Day workout at Cleveland State early this month, all with visions of the next Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez in their eyes.

I wish Bullock well, and you can bet that many around the Cleveland area will be tracking his progress.  But count me in on those that will be none to happy if we let yet another area kid go undrafted only to have him be a star for another team. 

—

New York Jets sign three tight ends… [NJ.com]

In 2002, the mid-major Kent State Golden Flashes wreaked havoc on plenty of brackets by making it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.  A big reason for this success was the play of forward Antonio Gates.  At 6’4″, 260 pounds, Gates had a relatively successful career at the collegiate basketball level by averaging 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds between his one season at Eastern Michigan and the two that followed at Kent State.  He ultimately made First Team All-MAC as a Senior.

The rest of Gates’ “career” is now well known as he switched sports by signing with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent.  Since then, he has broken the NFL record for tight end touchdowns within a season with 13 and has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times, three times as a First Team All-Pro.

And now with his senior basketball season behind him, Cleveland State’s J’Nathan Bullock has a decision to make.  He will widely be considered too small to succeed at the next level on the hardwood.  But as it stands right now, Bullock would like to follow Gates’ lead and give it a shot in the NFL.

Bullock is very similar in size to the aforementioned Gates, being listed at 6’5″, 240 pounds.  Also akin to the Kent State standout, Bullock did not play football in college.  Mostly because Cleveland State does not even have a football program, but partly due to the fact that he was focused on his endeavor that lead to 1,800 points scored.  In his senior season, Bullock averaged 15.2 points and 7.1 rebounds – comparable to those of Gates.  And like his would-be predecessor, Bullock was named to his conferences First Team.

When in high school, Bullock was very versatile on the football field.  He played on both sides of the ball including wide receiver, tight end and linebacker.  At the professional level, he would obviously be focusing his efforts as a tight end though he loved playing running back.

Many question his ability to translate the game in terms of the ever-discussed “Football IQ.”  Bullock will graduate from Cleveland State this spring with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Now, as Craig Krenzel showed the world a few years back, intelligence does not always equal success on the football field.  However, given Bullock’s athleticism and the skill set that he has shown on the basketball court (physical play, soft hands), there is little question as to why Bullock feels he can make an impact in the NFL.

Reportedly, several NFL teams have already contacted Gary Waters about Bullock’s future, including the Cleveland Browns.  Cleveland State is holding a “pro day” next Friday, and there will likely be several team scouts in attendance.  There is little chance that Bullock will be drafted come this April, but the Gates story shows that this is only a minor road block if the ability and the dedication are there.  I doubt many fans would be upset if their team gave him a shot.

Sure, the CSU Vikings making the tournament and ultimately upsetting Wake Forest was a great feel-good story for the mid-major program.  However, if this tournament bid – and the inherent exposure cast on to the team – results in a professional career of any of the players, I think we can all agree that the fairy tale may not even be complete.

—

Vikings hoops star J’Nathan Bullock wants to take a long shot at NFL [Joe Maxse/Plain Dealer]

Four days in.  By now we all might have gotten our fill of Gus Johnson, and definitely have had more than enough of Bill Raftery doing his best Tourette’s impression.   WITH THE KISS! GRUGGGG!!! We’ve screamed at the players that we love to hate.  Now we are subjected to what could be the worst three days of our lives – when we have to listen to Doug Gottleib take up 45 minutes of Sportscenter.  We get to hear the term “Bracket-buster” more than anyone should ever have to endure.  That being said, we also have some time to reset, restock our fridges, and “be contributing members of society” for a few days.

So, with all of that out of the way, here’s an incredibly superficial review of the weekend:

The Buckeyes lost to Siena, who many people (after the fact) claimed that they had said Siena was the new George Mason.  Siena gave Louisville a good game in the second round, which maybe lessens the blow to Buckeyes fans.  For me, it doesn’t.  Hopefully Club Trillion‘s take on it will help me mend, whenever it’s posted.

Thirteen-seed Cleveland State made it through the first round, upsetting 4-seed Wake Forest. However, they fell in the second round to 12-seed Arizona.

Xavier made it through to the sweet sixteen, past Portland State and Wisconsin.

Dayton made it past Bob Huggins and his pimp suits in the first round, then fell to 3-seed Kansas in the second round.

Aside from that, it’s largely been a chalk tourney thus far.  The lowest seed is Arizona at 12, but given the legacy of the program it’s not surprising to the casual observer that they’re through.  The only other “underdog” left at this point is #5 Purdue.  The rest of the remaining teams are 1, 2, 3, or 4 seeds.

In the WFNY bracket pool the current top 4 in points are Macnip, Basketball PhD, J Fury, MerrickP, and TJ’s Picks.  I am currently ranked 52/91, for those who are interested.  So kudos to those who are calling it well (but shame on you if you picked all chalk).

What are your thoughts on the tourney this past weekend?  And please, no whining about Team X “busting your bracket” – don’t be that guy.

Arizona 71, Cleveland State 57 (box) 

During Friday night’s upset blowout over fourth-seeded Wake Forest, the Cleveland State Vikings came out a house of fire, jumping to a 9-0 lead and knocking down the three ball from all angles. The same recipe would have to be used if the Vikings were going to pull off back to back stunners and advance to the Sweet 16.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans crashed in a hail of misfires and bricks. Arizona’s full court pressure and suffocating zone never allowed the Viking shooters to get into any sort of rhythm in the 71-57 Wildcat win. Shooting has been the bugaboo for this tough, physical group all year long. It is one thing to shoot 3-23 from deep against Youngstown State. It’s quite another to do it against an extremely athletic and talented Arizona club, that boasts three potential NBA first round picks (Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Nic Wise).

It wasn’t just the three-point shooting that killed CSU, they couldn’t get anything going in the middle of the zone either. “Arizona’s zone was really tough,” Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said. “That has been our nemesis all year — the zone.” Leading scorer J’Nathan Bullock, who was so good against Wake Forest Friday night, struggled mightily, going 3-12 with just seven points. “I couldn’t find my shot,” Bullock said. “Some nights that happens. It’s tough when it happens in the second round of the NCAA tournament. When you play a zone, you have to make your open shots. We weren’t able to do that.”

Fellow bigs George Tandy and Chris Moore were smothered by Hill and Jamele Horne down low. Combined, they came up with just six points. The zone gobbled up the Vikings for a full 40 minutes.

Norris Cole and Cedric Jackson, despite shooting 1-12 from beyond the arc, did all they could to keep Cleveland State close. Cole did his best work shot-faking on threes and hitting the mid-rang jumper. He led CSU with 17 points. Jackson did his best to break the Wildcat pressure, but ran out of gas in the end. He finished with 15.

Even with the Vikings seemingly being dominated in every phase of the game, a Trey Harmon three with 6:27 left pulled them within four at 56-52.  But Wise, the best player on the floor yesterday, answered with a triple of his own, and the Vikings were toast. Wise was spectacular, owning both ends of the floor. The lightning-quick point guard, led all scorers with 21 points and played hounding defense, the way Jason Terry did during his days in Tucson.

Regardless of how the game finished, CSU battled with Arizona for most of the game despite the fact that their shooters couldn’t hit water if they had fallen out of a boat. They never backed down to the challenge and did the university and city proud. They end their season at 26-11, the second-best in school history, while capturing the imagination of a city that should embrace them more than they do.

“The game today really didn’t epitomize anything about this team,” said Waters. “Sometimes these things happen in life. What epitomizes them is how hard they’ve worked. I’m extremely pleased because they continued to work to be who they are. [Arizona] was just the better team today.”

The Vikings lose seniors Bullock, Jackson, Tandy, and Moore, the guys who helped put the program back on the map. No doubt they will be missed, but with Waters in place, you can bet the program will stay competitive and at the top of the Horizon League.

“Our year is coming to an end as a family,” said Jackson said. “But we had a great year. We’re just proud that we could make it this far.”

We are all proud of you too, Cedric.

The last time that the Cleveland State Vikings were in the NCAA tournament is now a well-known 23 years ago.  That year, one of the biggest upsets was when the Kevin Mackey-led Vikings toppled the Bobby Knight-led Hoosiers of Indiana.

The last time that the Vikings current coach, Gary Waters, won a tournament game, he was the head coach of Kent State.  In 2001, Waters took a then 13-seed Golden Flash team and once again upset the Indiana Hoosiers.

The next time that Waters was given a 13-seed bid in the tournament was last night, as the stage was set to take on the once top-ranked Demon Decons of Wake Forest.  And this time, a combination of the above-mentioned wins gets combined into a second-round birth in the NCAAs, as the Waters-led Vikings not only won last night’s game, but came out firing and never looked back.

As the game inched to halftime, there is no doubt that there was a small feeling of some air being let out of the tires.  However, after the Decons pulled to within six about midway through the second half, Cleveland State would have none of it.  The sharp shooting of Cedric Jackson as well as the stellar play of Norris Cole took that single-digit lead and made it one of 15 points – all the buffer that the Vikings would need.

Flipping back and forth between the Vikings game and the game being played between Ohio State and Siena, you have to wonder if other regions were given the same choice which game they would have selected.  Considerably smaller than most of their opponents, the Vikings played with tenacity.  The Buckeyes make you want to pull you hair out when it comes to rebounding the basketball, but Cleveland State has a 6’5″ J’Nathan Bullock playing in the post night after night, and doing a mighty fine job.

The Vikings get a day of rest before matching up with the 12-seed Arizona Wildcats, who managed to “upset” the fifth-seeded Utah Utes moments before CSU tipped off.  I use the quotes for “upset” and failed to mention it in the title for the reason that you can see that the Vikings felt that they were supposed to win last night’s game.  There was no exuberant celebration.  And when they match up against the Wildcats tomorrow afternoon, you know that there is a group of guys wearing green and white that truly believe that they’re ready for the Sweet 16.  And they definitely proved it last night.

Let’s hope that they can keep this ride going.  It sure is a fun one.

As we all know, the annual March Madness college basketball tourney starts today.  I thought I would take this opportunity to run down all the reasons that college football is broken with the BCS and how they could use a tournament like this to close out their season.

Just kidding.

I am going to run down all your Ohio teams and when you can catch their games.  Good luck with those brackets.

3/19/2009

Who: (13) Akron (23-12, 10-6 MAC) vs. (4) Gonzaga (26-5, 14-0 WCC)

When and Where: 7:25 PM ET Kansas City, MO

3/20/2009

Who: (11) Dayton (26-7, 11-5 A 10) vs. (6) West Virginia (23-11, 10-8 Big East)

When and Where: 3:00 PM ET Minneapolis, MN

–

Who: (13) Portland St. (23-9, 11-5 Big Sky) vs. Xavier (25-7, 12-4 A 10)

When and Where: 7:25 ET Boise, ID

–

Who: (13) Cleveland State (25-10, 12-6 Horizon) vs. (4) Wake Forest (24-6, 11-5 ACC)

When and Where: 9:40 ET Miami, FL

–

Who: (9) Siena (26-7, 16-2 MAAC) vs. (8) Ohio State (22-10, 10-8 Big Ten)

When and Where: 9:40 ET in Dayton, OH

The  Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Vikings of Cleveland State.
Le Dayton Flyers.
The Xavier Musketeers.
And the Akron Zips.

Sure, the highest seed may be Xavier who surprised many by landing a four- spot, but is anyone else surprised by the representation that the state of Ohio received. The Musketeers were a lock. But until the Vikings upset Butler for the Horizon League championship, followed thereafter by Akron winning the MAC out of the fifth seed, the other teams were all considered to be on the bubble.

Joining Xaver in terms of representing the A-10, the Flyers of Dayton.  These kids play some stellar defense, and could be in line for an upset of West Virginia if they can someone learn how to score between now and this weekend. Cleveland State upset the Hoosiers of Indiana during their last stint in the tournament; could they repeat against Wake Forest?

The Evan Turner-led Buckeyes landed the dreaded eight-nine game, where the “winner” gets rewarded by playing the top-seeded team. In this case, said team is the Louisville Cardinals that would surprise absolutely no one if they won the entire tournament.  I was hoping for a higher look after making it to the conference finals, but it was not the case.  The team they lost to, the Boliermakers of Purdue, received a five-seed in the West.

Sure, it may not exactly be in the cards for any of the Ohio teams to go very far in the tournament, but I guess stranger things have happened.  If I had a magic genie (I picture my genie as a chair-throwing Bobby Knight in a tube top) could give me one guaranteed win, I’m all over the Vikings.  Just one win would be very, very cool.

Given that, feel free to profess your love for any of the abovementioned teams in WFNY’s March Madness challenge. The prizes will depend on how many readers we get to register. The more, the merrier. One bracket per person, please.

WFNY March Madness Pool – Welcoming All Readers!
Group #: 70259 | Password: wfny2009

Cleveland State 57
Butler 54 (box)

Two times this season the Cleveland State Vikings had the lead with less than a minute to go against the conference leader and rival Butler. Two times, they lost. CSU head coach Gary Waters was determined to not let this happen again. As he told his team before the game (caught by the ESPN cameras) “two times we had these guys, and we let them get away.”

This time they didn’t.

The third time was indeed the charm for Waters and his team. After trailing for most of the first 30 minutes, Tournament MVP Cedric Jackson hit one of his four threes to put the Vikings ahead for good and send them to their first NCAA Tournament in 23 years. They did it in typical Cleveland State fashion under the direction of Waters;  stingy defense and quality offensive possessions.

Jackson put on perhaps his best performance of his Viking career. The senior St. John’s transfer played all 40 minutes and controlled the game on both ends. He led all scorers with 19 points, dished out eight assists, and grabbed seven boards. His back to back threes with CSU down six were a part of an 8-0 which tied the score at 28 late in the first half. You could see the calm, cool, play of a Senior who knew this was his last shot at the big dance. “We wanted to be aggressive and I had to step up. It feels so good,” said Cedric after the game.

It didn’t look good for a while as star J’Nathan Bullock struggled most of the night in the face of constant double teams everytime he touched the ball in the post. He shot just 4-12 from the floor and Waters even sat him at key times down the stretch in favor of the post duo of George Tandy and Chris Moore, who were superb defending Horizon League Player of the Year. Not only did Jackson step forward, but the the unsung hero of this CSU victory was Freshman Guard Jeremy Montgomery.

The precocious kid from Chicago is known as the Vikings best deep threat and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Playing without defensive stopper D’Aundrey Brown and with starter Trey Harmon saddled with three fouls early in the second half, Waters turned to Montgomery and he responded. The Lefty stroked three huge threes and finished with 11 points in a key 21 minutes of play off the bench. His triple gave CSU its first lead since the early in the game at 47-45 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

In a game where the officiating was extremely spotty on both ends (the third foul calls on Bullock and Howard were as bad as they get), credit Tandy, Moore, and Bullock for keeping Howard at bay. He scored right at his average, 14 points, but he had to work extremely hard to get them. He had a tough time with the size and athleticism of Tandy and the physicality of Moore and Bullock.

Defensive credit must also go to Waters, who twice in the second half junked his classic man to man style for a triangle and two on Howard and Shelvin Mack (with Jackson and Tandy) and a diamond and one on Mack (with Jackson) after Mack torched the Vikings for 15 points in the first 26 minutes. He didn’t hit a field goal in the final 16 minutes of the game.

After a Jackson layup with 4:55 remaining, CSU was clinging to a 56-50 lead and began to take the air out of the ball on each offensive possession. Said Waters: “Our goal was to control the tempo at that point.  If we cut the clock down and got it under three minutes, we would win. It was the defense that won it.” It wasn’t the best strategy in the world at that point (or at least it seemed that way to me), but with the defense the Vikings were playing, it worked. Gordon Hayward’s one-handed tip-in with 6:20 left was the last field goal Butler would make.

Norris Cole’s perfect reading of the passing lanes gave Cleveland State a shot to ice the game at the line with 14 seconds left up two. Cole split a pair at the line, giving Butler one last shot to send the game to OT.That one last shot turned into three. Mack misfired on a contested three, but Hayward grabbed the offensive board. He trey attempt was off the mark as well, but Shawn Vanzant was their to grab the rebound, he made a third attempt to tie the game, but the ball slipped from his hands as the clock hit zero.The Vikings rushed the floor in jubilation.

Coach Gary Waters threw his arms to the sky in celebration. Nobody deserved this one more than he did. It has taken him just three seasons to turn a dead program into an NCAA Tournament team. He has worked so hard to give his players the reasons to believe. They came through for him and he came through for them.

Said a proud Waters after the game: “These guys are a bunch of fighters and they persevered.”

Congrats to the entire Cleveland State program for punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Somewhere in Indiana, Kevin Mackey  is smiling.

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Apparently after the game, CBS Sportsline had the score and recap flip-flopped. Thanks to the Dawg Pound Daily for this find

December 4th, 2008 – The Wolstein Center in Cleveland. Cleveland State leads by seven points at the half over the undefeated Butler Bulldogs. Despite shooting just 1-11 from three point land and 26% from the field, a J’Nathan Bullock layup gave the Vikings a 48-47 lead with just a five seconds left.

Then, little used Butler guard Zach Hahn received a pass at the three-point lined, turned a jacked up a shot as the clock hit all zeroes. It bottomed. Butler wins 50-48 in a game that changed hands three teams in the last 19 seconds.

February 28, 2009 – Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. #23 Butler seems in control from the opening tip against Cleveland State in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. They led by 11 with less than two minutes to go in the first half and took a 10 point lead at 50-40 with just over nine minutes to play. In a raukous Hinkle Fieldhouse on Senior Day, many teams would have folded.

Not Gary Waters Vikes.

Behind a trifecta of trifecta’s (two from Cedric Jackson, one from Bullock), CSU hit Butler with a 12-0 run to take an improbable 52-50 lead. A Ronald Nored free throw gave Butler a 58-56 lead with 17 seconds left. Waters knew what he wanted to do. The Bulldogs hit a buzzer-beating three to beat his team three months earlier on his home floor. Turn-about had to be fair-play, didn’t it?

Waters called for Norris Cole, his best deep shooter, to come around two set of screens for a three-point attempt. The play was drawn-up beautifully, except conference Player of the Year, Butler’s Matt Howard, read it perfectly and blocked Cole’s attempt, killing CSU’s chance at a W over their heated rival. Final Score: Butler 58 Cleveland State 56

March 10th, 2009 – The Horizon League Tournament Finals at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The stage is set again for a rematch of last year’s final and the two hotly contested regular season matchup between the league’s two toughest teams. The two were separated by just three points in Butler’s two wins.

At 25-4, the 16th ranked Bulldogs are an NCAA Tournament lock. They have wins over Northwestern, Xavier, UAB, and a 15-3 conference record in a Horizon League that was as good as it has ever been. Howard is the signature player in the conference, a 6-8, 230 lb load who can beat you inside and out. Freshmen Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack have more than accounted for the loss of Mike Green and A.J. Graves   in Brad Stevens’ three-guard attack, both averaging double figures. They still love to shoot the three (35% as a team), but everything they do offensively runs through Howard.

Cleveland State has had a tougher road getting to the conference finals. Unlike Butler, who received two byes into the semi-finals, the Vikings have had to win three games in five nights to get here. First they knocked off Detroit 56-43 last Tuesday in Cleveland. They traveled to Indianapolis to take-down UIC in the quarters 67-64 in a game where they trailed by nine with five minutes to play. They  met second-seeded Green Bay and trailed by six at the half, before locking down Ryan Tillema and company in the second stanza to win 73-67 and advance to the finals.

If the Vikes are going to win tonight, a few things are going to have to happen. First, they are going to have to withstand the intense atmosphere at Hinkle. The fabled gym where the final scene in Hoosiers was filmed is never an easy place to win thanks to a rabid fan-base.  “It is different than other places,” said Howard. “There is the uniqueness and the tradition.” CSU point guard Cedric Jackson must keep the turnovers to a minimum and stay under control. Pounding the post with Bullock, George Tandy, and Chris Moore is a must to not only attempt to get Howard in foul trouble, but to open up the perimeter for Cole, Jackson, Jeremy Montgomery, and the aptly named Trey Harmon.This is how they climbed back into the game in Indy two weeks ago.

Defensively, Bullock must out-physical Howard, which he can do. The emotional leader of the team, Bullock is maybe the strongest post player in the conference. He held Howard to seven points in their first matchup and 12 in the second. No doubt he will get help from Tandy. Without defensive stalwart D’Aundrey Brown (out with an injury), Defensive Player of the Year Jackson, Harmon, and Cole will have to keep the Butler three-point shooters at bay.

You can bet Gary Waters will have his team ready. This is a club with five seniors who have been through it all, especially Bullock who almost transferred out after Mike Garland was fired three years ago. Butler stole their dream shot at the Big Dance last year. They don’t want that to happen again.

“We only talk about the NCAA,” Waters said. “No one says ‘NIT.’ “

Photo courtesy of Joshua Gunter - PD

Cleveland State 56, Detroit 43 (box)

I was happy to be down as the Wolstein Center for Horizon League Tournament first round action last night, expecting to see an easy walk-over by the 22-10, third-seeded Cleveland State Vikings. After all, Detroit came to town at 2-14 in the conference, losers of six straight, and had been swept this season by the Vikes with relative ease. Everyone in the building was thinking the exact same thing just before tip-off; everyone except the Titans and their coach Ray McCallum.

Late in the first half, the UDM’s Thomas Kennedy hit back to back jumpers off of back to back Cleveland State turnovers, and the Titans were within one at 22-21. At the half, CSU was up just one. Adjustments had to be made, especially on Kennedy, who hit five of his first seven shots and was heating up. Coach Gary Waters went to a box and one on Kennedy, locking him down with a combination of Trey Harmon and Horizon League Defensive Player of the year Cedric Jackson.

It worked.

Meanwhile, the stagnant Viking offense, which went just 1-6 from deep in the first half, woke up behind the All-Conference duo of Jackson and J’Nathan Bullock. Jackson sliced and diced his way through the tough Titan defense for 16 points, including a key basket and one with the score tied at 27, leading to the big 29-16 game-ending run that sealed the W. Bullock was lethal on the glass, snagging a game-high 13 boards and being hands-down the most physical player on the court (his collison with referree Lamont Simpson put the official on the sideline for the rest of the game with what looked like a serious knee injury).  His shooting was off (4-12, 1-5 on threes), but his presence killed any inside opportunities Detroit attempted. Harmon’s hit huge three stretched the lead to eight at 39-31 with 10:32 left and the Titans never got close again.

Kennedy who was so good in the first half, scored just two points after the break and became a complete non-factor thanks to Waters decision to go box and one on him. “It’s something they did to him in our earlier meeting in Detroit,” McCallum told me after the game. “He’s a dangerous weapon I had to shy away from team defense and just shut him down,” said Jackson of Kennedy, who led UDM with 12. With Kennedy locked down, the other Titan shooters failed to step up. The Vikings calling card – their defense – controlled the second stanza. They outrebounded UDM 32-23 and held the Titans to 38% shooting, and just 1-6 from beyond the arc. “We weren’t in a panic,” said Bullock, “We just kept defending and the game was ours.”

An offensive masterpiece, this game was not. But as they say in tournament play, “survive and advance.” That is exactly what the Vikes did. They didn’t have their “A” game and they still pulled off a double digit win on their home floor. In the Horizon League Tournament format, the top two seeds (#1 Butler and #2 Green Bay) get automatic byes into the semi-finals (televised on ESPNU), which take place Saturday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. CSU travels there for Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with 16-14 UIC, who knocked off Youngstown State 73-68 last night. The Vikings won both tilts with UIC during the regular season.

With the Horizon League tournament kicking off tomorrow, the Cleveland State Vikings will have a home game against Detroit as both teams set their sites on the automatic bid that goes to the winner of the whole shebang.

While the Vikings were not fortunate enough to lock up a one of the top two seeds – that gives said seed two byes and an automatic birth in the semi-finals – they will be going to battle with two players that have a little more hardware.

Cleveland State senior men’s basketball forward J’Nathan Bullock was named to the All-Horizon League first team today, the league announced. Also, CSU senior guard Cedric Jackson earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Year Award and made second team.

Butler, the team that typically represents the Horizon League during all things NCAA, has a few award winners of their own.  The Vikings were extremely close to upsetting the Bulldogs this weekend, but fell just a bit short with a final score of 58-56.  Plagued by some foul trouble and turnovers caused by the Bulldogs’ extremely solid defense, a front-of-the-rim missed three by Norris Cole was about all she wrote.

Given all of this, CSU actually came out with a much-needed break with Youngstown State falling to Valparaiso; resulting in the Vikings getting the third seed in the tournament.  Thus, they will not have to play Butler again until the finals – assuming they make it.  If the Vikings manage to win the entire tournament, all heck could break lose with the selection committee as Butler would almost undoubtedly get one of the at-large bids, forcing a bubble team (Ohio State, Virginia Tech, etc) to be on the outside looking in.  Given the brash of injuries that the team endured this season, the result is not all that far-fetched.

Good times.

It’s the wonderful world of Cleveland sports on a Tuesday after the Super Bowl. Let the lull period begin. While you are bored, here are ten things to think about:

-Last January, he was a potential first-day NFL draft pick. Today, not so much. Ohio State’s Alex Boone was arrested for drunken buffoonery, jumping up and down on the hood of several different cars, trying to smash the windshield of a tow truck, and avoiding police in Los Angeles. Things got so bad; the former Buckeye Offensive lineman had to be tasered. Dude is 6-8, 312. Imagine trying to be a friend of his trying to calm him down. His draft stock is plummeting faster than the Dow.

-Rumor has it Delonte West would like to come back before the All-Star break, a few weeks earlier than expected. I say what’s the rush. Sasha Pavlovic is in his best rhythm since he was a starter on the 2006-07 NBA Finals team. Boobie Gibson’s fourth quarter performance in Detroit might be the start of something special for him. While home court advantage and the #1 seed in the East is of the utmost importance, having Delonte at full strength may be on par.

-Don’t look now, but with the Lakers losing stud Center Andrew Bynum for 8-12 weeks with a torn MCL, the race for home court for the NBA Finals will most likely come down to a two horse race between the Cavs and the Celtics. Boston is on another long winning streak, 11 in a row, heading to Philadelphia tonight. The Cavs meanwhile have managed to stay even with them, despite a run of 13 games without both Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and a brutal West Coast road trip. This is not to discount Orlando and Superman Dwight Howard, but if Jameer Nelson has to miss a significant amount of time with the shoulder he separated last night, they could fall off the pace. EDIT: ESPN.com says Nelson has a torn labrum and could be lost of the year.

-We received an email from reader Joe Navratil asking how we can not have made the obvious Michael Phelps/Braylon Edwards connection in reference to the photo of the gold medal swimmer taking a hit from a bong. It is true, the two are fast friends, but does that really mean they have smoked pot together? I think it would be naïve of all of us to think that at one time or another, Braylon hasn’t experimented (not that we would know if this was true or not). So what? Braylon has made his share of bone-head mistakes both on and off the field, but he wasn’t the one dumb enough to get caught on film with a supposed squeaky clean image and $100 million in future earnings on the line.

-I heard Paul Hoynes on More Sports and Les Levine last night say that Indians second baseman Josh Barfield will be getting looks at third base and all three outfield positions this spring in attempts to turn him into a super-utility man. Uh, hello? Who suggested this last winter? With both Mark Shapiro and Paul Dolan stating the team is already over budget, the final roster spot looks like it is Barfield’s to lose.

-Poor Jawad Williams, the guy has done everything the Cavaliers have asked him short of doing the laundry, and by the time his two 10-day contracts are about to expire, Tarance Kinsey goes down with an ankle injury, leaving the team thin at the Guard spot. Williams had to be let go in favor or D-League call-up 6-6 swingman Trey Johnson from Jackson State. Here’s hoping they bring the St. Edward’s product back before the end of the season.

-With 40 man roster spots so important, you wonder why the Indians continue to waste one on fallen-prospect Andy Marte. The only logical thought process is for protection in case new Mark DeRosa tears his knee up in spring training. Even then, wouldn’t the Indians just move Jhonny Peralta to third, Asdrubal Cabrera to short, and use Jamey Carroll and Josh Barfield at second? The real question is who is the biggest waste of a roster spot, Marte or David Dellucci? As much as I dislike DD, Marte may have this honor sewn up.

-With the lack of quality free agent QB’s on the market and a bidding war expected for Matt Cassel between the likes of Minnesota, Kansas City, and Detroit among others, one wonders if the Browns will be able to be the backup plan for the runners-up with Derek Anderson. Cassel may be franchised by the Patriots and held on to for insurance in case Tom Brady isn’t fully recovered, but conventional wisdom says Cassel’s stock will never be higher, and this is the time Bill Belichick says sell. The killer for the Browns is Anderson’s injured knee. Nobody knows how he will respond. Typical Cleveland luck. The good news is it only takes one team to fall in love with DA’s big arm. Speaking of Cassel, his brother Jack will go to Spring Training with the Indians as a non-roster free agent relief pitcher.

-To quote the great Harry Doyle from Major League “in case you hadn’t noticed, and judging by the attendance, you haven’t,” the Horizon League is as deep as it has ever been in their 2008-09 college basketball season. 11th ranked Butler (19-2, 10-1) is again on top, but suffered their first conference loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay (18-6, 10-2) last night 75-66. UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, Cleveland State, UIC, and Wright State can all beat anyone on any given night. The league boasts road wins at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and UMass. With Butler a lock for an at-large bid barring a major collapse, the league could be looking at multiple bids yet again. The Horizon League tournament will be the most entertaining mid-major tournament of Championship week.

-The Steelers three most important players during their sixth Super Bowl Championship were Santonio Holmes (Ohio State), James Harrison (Kent State), and Ben Roethlisberger (Miami of Ohio). That, my friends, is called irony.

I hate resolutions.  It seems to me that, when you really think about it, that people wait until an arbitrary moment in time before they stop eating and start exercising or whatever else the resolution might be.  If you feel like changing something in your life, you should probably just do it whenever.  That’s usually my philosophy anyway.  When it came to Cleveland sports, I actually felt like drawing up some resolutions for myself.  I have no idea if I will actually be able to keep these up, but like a smoker giving up the cancer sticks, I will give it a go and hope to not fall off the wagon.

1. Regardless of how Eric Mangini works out, I will not refer to him as “Mangenius” either seriously or as a joke. It seems kind of sad to me when a guy goes from one city to another when the second city co-opts the gimmick from the first city.  I learned this first hand when the Boston sportswriters started writing about “Manny being Manny” after they signed Manny Ramirez.  I used to hate hearing that phrase in a thick Boston Brogue because it was created in Cleveland and stolen.  “Mangenius” might have been funny three years ago in NY / NJ, but I will not partake in stealing a gimmick, even if they don’t want it anymore.
2. I will not take LeBron James for granted.  While the conspiracies will continue to fester pulling him out of town, I will work to enjoy every minute of his tenure in Cleveland no matter how long or short it is.  If I allow all the various sportswriters around the country to distract me from enjoying the opportunity I have today as a Cavs fan, the terrorists will have won.
3. I will do my best to keep “the big picture” in mind with the Browns.  Despite the fact that I have doubts and questions and fears, I will try to keep in mind that nothing is simple in the NFL.  It is the pro league with the most parity.  It has the most coaches who make the most difference game in and game out.  It has the most players involved in team success from two sides of the ball to special teams.  I will do my best to not boil problems down to one player, one coach, or the owner alone.  If a theory in the NFL seems to simple, it probably isn’t a good theory.
4. I will not be able to keep up with this one I don’t think, but it is a nice thought.  I will not be jealous of the payrolls of richer baseball teams.  While it is definitely an unfair system and I could spend all day complaining about it, I will do my best to focus on the potential return of the $70+ million worth of players that Cleveland has this season.  Just because a team spends a lot more money doesn’t mean they have to win.  They can’t buy every player, just the available ones.  Last time I checked, they weren’t capable of buying Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez or Cliff Lee.  That, in and of itself is an advantage.  Hopefully.  Think of it from this perspective.  All three of those guys would have spots on their uber-expensive team and we have them on the Indians.
5. I will try not to talk about the inequities of the BCS next season.  There comes a time when the arguments, discussions, theories and general whinging are as trite and overdone as anything in the world.  It is to the point where it is a safe target for an in-coming president.  If this topic is that safe politically then it is officially not compelling as a sports topic.
6. I will try to follow one more sports team than I followed in 2008.  I don’t know if it will be the Bluejackets, the CSU Vikings, or the Ohio State basketball team (which I already false-started on once in 2008,) but I will try to extend my range.  Maybe I can get DP to tell me why I should follow the Bluejackets.  Maybe I should try attending a game to see if it gets me into it.
7. I will spend more time laughing at LenDale White.  He may have said that Ohio State sucks on two separate occasions on Jim Rome’s various shows this year, but at least Ohio State can get better.  LenDale will never be able to invest enough time in salads to make himself any better.  If he needs to spend the rest of his life underachieving and hanging onto the collective coattails of Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush, then so be it.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  And on a more positive note, I did find it funny when he stomped on the Horrible Hanky a couple weeks ago.
8. I will attempt to do more podcasting.  As a unit here at WFNY we kinda dropped the ball recently on the whole podcasting thing.  After Rock and Rick made our triumphant return, I have decided that I will try and do more.  It is a lot of fun to have a different way to talk sports other than the one-way method that is the written word.  Plus, with our new platform over at BlogTalkRadio we can make it like a real radio show with you guys calling in, chatting in the chat room and participating.  We will also work hard to make sure we keep expanding on the guests we get.
9. I will try and do more WFNY contests, even if it is just a Yahoo Game with all the readers.  The NFL Pick ’em was really fun this year.  I have gone three years in a row without playing fantasy football.  But every year, there are more and more games to play at various points of the sports seasons.  So, we will definitely have something in March for the NCAA basketball tourney, and hopefully we can use that as a jumping off point to keep the contest momentum going.
10. This year, when it comes time to write my resolutions, I will actually come up with a tenth.  I ran out of gas here at the end and couldn’t come up with one more, so my goal is to have a 10th resolution next year.

Welcome back, Zydrunas Ilgauskas!  Yesterday’s Cavaliers game was entirely too close for my liking, but there is no denying that Z’s presence in the post was huge on both ends of the floor.  Yes, he had 16 points, nine boards and three blocks, but indirectly enabling Ben Wallace to do his thing (15 rebounds, three steals, one block) helped out immensely.  Proof in the pudding: Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed combined to go 8-for-23 from the floor. 

And while it’s good to see LeBron laughing off DeShawn Stevenson’s comments from last week, I think he could have come up with a better reference than this – you know he was sitting on that one for a while. 

The brackets are out!  While Ohio State pulled a number one seed in the NIT, it will be up to Kent State (nine) and Xavier (three) in terms of repping the state of Ohio.  After seeing the numbers, it looks like the University of Dayton got a bit of the hose by the committee.  32 RPI and not getting a bid? 

For those CSU fans, if you’re the vindictive type, you’re likely pretty happy to see the bid that Butler received.  With an RPI of 17, and a season-end AP rank of 12th overall, you’d expect at least a top-five seed…right?  Wrong.  Butler got slapped with a seventh-seed and an opponent of South Alabama.  I should also mention that the game will be held in Birmingham. 

22 straight from the Houston Rockets.  A career-high 31 from a guy that used to make a living playing basketball in a tour that made stops at Tri-C Metro Campus. 

And don’t look now, but your Cleveland Gladiators are a perfect 3-0 on the season.  Need I remind you that this squad won two games ALL of last year?  Otis Amey put together a 238-yard day this weekend, and this team looks like they’re having a blast out there. 

Have a great St. Patty’s day, folks.  If you’re coming downtown, feel free to have a green one for me while I sit in my office!

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Not to belabor the point, but most of us here at WFNY do not get the opportunity to watch the CSU Vikings games. Certainly, they don’t get much coverage in the local press either. Now had the Vikings beaten Butler on Tuesday night, that would have changed. At least temporarily.

Cleveland State lost in the Horizon league championship game to a well coached, and nationally ranked Butler team. There is no shame in this loss. The Vikings were one game away from the big tournament. There will be a post-season for CSU. It will come from the NIT. Hopefully Cleveland State will use this loss as motivation and capture the NIT title. They may have some familiar names in that tournament. Teams like Florida, Ohio State, Syracuse and Maryland could be looking at NIT bids instead of tickets to the big dance. Hard to believe that both participants from last year’s championship game could be on the outside looking in.

Cleveland State coach Gary Waters was spot on when he said to his players-

“We’ve still got a lot more basketball to play, keep your heads up. One game doesn’t change your whole season.”

For a program that hasn’t sniffed the Horizon league championship game since 1987, they accomplished something, and they have a foundation to build on. Perhaps another 20 win season will garner more attention for the Vikings. Congrats on a great regular season CSU, now go take care of business in the NIT.

It comes as no surprise that with the exodus of Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Daequan Cook out of Ohio State last year – and into the first round of the NBA Draft – that Ohio State men’s basketball has somewhat fallen off of the radar around these parts. Admittedly, I have very little time to follow the NCAA world given the Cavaliers presence in Cleveland.

I know that Tennessee and Memphis are doing pretty well, which is awesome given their location. I know that Duke and UNC continue to be a hot ticket. But one other thing that I know, that many other might not, is that we could be seeing the Cleveland State University in the Big Dance this season.

The Horizon League is one that is typically represented by schools like Valparaiso, Butler, and the occasional bid by Wright State. Now being in third place only about a week ago, the stars aligned for CSU as they pulled themselves into the second seed, to get the ever-s0-coveted two-round bye.

Now as the Horizon League Tournament is winding down, the Vikings will take on Valparaiso at 4:30p EST. Hopefully, you have ESPNU so you’ll be able to check out the action. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the University of Illinois-Chicago/Butler game that will go down at 6:30p EST. The championship will be on Tuesday night, on ESPN. Horizon League goes Big Time!

Can juniors J’Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson lead the way? Jackson boasts a league-leading 159 assists on the season, while Bullock has lead the team in scoring each of the last three seasons. Don’t think for one minute that these two haven’t fed off of each other all season long and will provide quite the challenge over the next few days. Butler is a tough team, and has the NCAA experience, but if you remember back to only a month or so ago, another CSU win wouldn’t be the first this season.

Either way, a 20-11 mark is a complete turnaround from the 10-21 record of only a year ago. I mean, the school barely has dorms! This would have to be a NCAA tournament first. Right? I for one cannot wait to see what happens as I would love to fill out a bracket come the next few weeks and see “Cleveland State” loud and proud on one of the lines. Even if it is preceded by a number that ends in “teen.”

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Man. Talk about taking one on the chin. I’m sure I’m not alone on this one, but I turned this game on in the second quarter. I saw LeBron James nail the three-pointer from the time line to end the half, and then took off to meet a few buddies at a local establishment. By the time I walked in the door, the Cavs were down 14 points – and that was that.

Don’t doubt for one minute that Joakim Noah wasn’t energized for this game. Tyrus Thomas was suspended, and Aaron Gray isn’t about to steal minutes in a vindication-type game. Noah hustled the entire time he was on the floor – even throwing down a huge dunk that ultimately wouldn’t count as it followed a foul on Luol Deng. But it was enough to get the crowd on their feet, and it was about that time in the game where you could see the Cavaliers simply deflate.

Call it the second of a back-to-back on the road. Call it simply another game where the team came out absolutely flat in the second half. Whichever way you look at it, all it took was an ugly 12-minute period to put the “L” in the books.

In the rest of the world…

Browns fans will be very intrigued by this piece over at PFT. Former Bengal, and current Brown, Shaun Smith goes on record to discuss an altercation that occurred over two years ago. One that Cincinnati tried its hardest to cover up. Let’s face it, did Cincy really need another black eye on their name?

Asked at the 5:20 mark of the clip about the incident that occurred in the team’s locker room during the only playoff game of the Lewis era, Smith said of Johnson: “He swung on Marvin. . . . [Johnson] shattered the training room glass. . . . He swung on Marvin [and] hit Marvin in the eye. . . . Then he tried to swing on wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, who’s now in Baltimore.”

And Marvin Lewis won’t trade Johnson? I really can’t blame Bengal fans for reacting the way they have this off-season. Botched trades and all. They could be in for another ugly season.

A solid interview with Cleveland State freshman hoopster Norris Cole in today’s Plain Dealer. It’s always a feel-good story when athletes have such strong support from their family – before making it big. Couple this with the fact that Dayton isn’t exactly the next town over from Cleveland and it’s even that much better.

There’s a very interesting post by James Walker over at the Columbus Dispatch regarding the contract of Derek Anderson.

What stands out most is the huge roster bonus of $5 million due before the 2009 season. This confirms everyone’s suspicion that Cleveland’s two-quarterback system is a one-year experiment.

The Browns will not pay Anderson a $5 million roster bonus next year unless they are convinced he is their long-term solution at quarterback. If not, the Browns likely will make a trade and turn to Brady Quinn.

This is very intriguing given the fact that I feel Anderson is still trade bait. But how many teams would be willing to take on the possibility of last year being a fluke season only to have to pay the guy an extra $5 mill come next year? Do the Knicks need a quarterback?

Have a good Friday, all.

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