The Sports Monitor

I love it when a coach goes off after a loss. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's famous "I'm a man, I'm 40" tirade rates right up there. We'll have to add Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson to the epic meltdowns of our time. Hinson went off after a loss Tuesday night dropped his team to 2-8. Some of the highlights: "Our three starting guards had one assist and seven turnovers. They must think it’s a tax credit." "There was a sniper in the gym. Didn’t you see that? We had guys falling down. We had a guy snipered at half-court. " "I've been telling my wife this for years, size doesn't matter." You gotta check out the full video:

This is the fifth version of Bracket Racket, my way of picking the NCAA champion. Last year was a darn good year for the Racket. Heck, let's be honest. It was an excellent year. My formula correctly picked the championship game -- Kentucky vs. Kansas -- and it picked the winner. How do you top it? I guess simply do it again. I've tweaked the equation over the years, and after last year's success, there's not much to update. Here's the path to narrow your picks to one champion: First things first, first-round games are a joke: Honestly, no national champion will emerge from this group. And why does Dayton get to host this every year? The Sour 16: While we're being honest, no 16 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed. Go with history. Capital losses : It's easier to say UNLV instead of University of Nevada at Las Vegas. It still doesn't make them a threat to win it all. Take all teams that use capital letters off your list (UNLV, UCLA, VCU). Let...

There are many ways to pick an NCAA tournament champion. Some might pick their alma mater, others could go for a long-time favorite team while some could pull a name out of a hat. Me? I have a pretty good formula going. It's called Bracket Racket. The success is uncanny. Here's how we go from 68 to 1: First things first, first-round games are a joke: Seriously, the NCAA wants us to think the eight teams playing "first-round" games have a chance while 60 others get a bye into the second round? Missouri Valley State, Western Kentucky, BYU, Iona, Lamar, Vermont, Cal and South Florida all are eliminated. It's not sweet being a 16: Don't be a hero, scratch off the No. 16 seeds remaining. Capital losses : Teams that go by capital letters are outta here: VCU, UNLV, WVU (go home, Mountaineers). Wrong statement : I hate to break it to you, but schools with state in its name won't win it all this year. That means Iowa State, Wichita State, New Mexico...

What do you think: Will the Pitt college basketball team get an invitation to the NIT tournament or the CBI tournament Sunday night after the NCAA bids are handed out? Maybe they should just pass after a 17-16 season.

The landscape of college athletics could be in for another change if a New York Times report plays out. Pitt and Syracuse, according to the Times , are taking to the Atlantic Coast Conference about membership. The second graph of the story was interesting: No one from Pittsburgh, Syracuse or the A.C.C. denied the conversations were taking place. Officials from all three entities declined to comment on the matter. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. I will say this, however, if the Big East can't get Notre Dame or final other colleges to expand, having Pitt jump to the ACC is a good move. I love the Big East for basketball. I think it's the best conference out there. But for football? As much as I'd like to see Pitt succeed in the Big East, I have to wonder about the future of football playing in the Big East. The Big East gets no respect when it comes to football. Even when it had Miami and Virginia Tech, the conference didn't get a whole ...

The new-look NCAA tournament begins tonight with two games, but the same rules apply when predicting the champion -- follow my Bracket Racket for the winner of the national championship. I've picked winners in the past using this formula, so there's a good chance it'll be right again this year. Especially with the upgrades I've installed to cope with a 68-team field handed to us by the NCAA. Hopefully they don't go to a 96-team field. I'm not sure my computer can handle more changes. As an added bonus, if you have the right channels on your cable tiers, you can watch all the games. That's pretty cool, unless you own a business and want your employees to be productive. Now, on to the picks. First, eliminate all No. 16 seeds. This is a tried-and-true formula. It especially holds true since no No. 16 seed has ever won a game. That eliminates Boston U., Hampton, and the two schools that emerge to face Ohio State and Pitt after the first-round games o...